Real Family
by JoeNeal
Summary: Someone from Neal's past makes his present a living hell and suddenly his future seems bleak. His only hope is Peter.
1. Chapter 1

_okay so I finally took my sister's suggestion and decided to post this story. This is my first fic so all suggestions and criticisms are welcome but please try being gentle. Thank you :) okay here goes _

_But first of all..I do not own White Collar._

Peter stretched his hands above his head to remove the kinks in his body. The White Collar division was having a peaceful week , which meant no dangerous white collar criminals were threatening the city. But that also meant insufferable amount of mortgage fraud case files to be studied.

It was way past the working hours and everybody had finished up and left. Everybody except Peter. After receiving a life threatening message from El , he finally decided to call it a day. He cleaned his desk , got out of the chair and walked towards the door and that was when he saw a soft light coming from downstairs.

He locked his door and padded down the stairs towards the light..

Neal was so intently studying the file that he didn't really notice Peter leaving his office and coming and standing right in front of him. Peter was looking at Neal carefully and studying him. He seemed to be totally engrossed in the files. Finally Peter asked "If I didn't know any better I did think you are planning to rob a Museum or something "

Neal was startled from the sudden noise in the otherwise quiet division. But the famous conman schooled his expression and answered with ease

"Aw! Peter , you weren't supposed to find out about it this soon, I have this everything planned " he looked serious,and then finished deadpanned " Don't worry, you too have an important role to play in the heist "

They both stared each other for a long time or was it a few seconds, nobody took notice. Finally Peter spoke

"Alright, alright, Cut the joke now " Peter laughed. "You really think you will tell me that you are planning a heist and that too with ME involved, and I will believe it?" His laughing had stopped but the smile was still there.

Neal didn't reciprocate his laughter . Infact he remained dead serious. " what do you really think Peter I was doing in the office at this hour? I mean you really think I was reading the case files? " He smirked and raised his eyebrow.

Peter's smile faltered a bit. Neal was a conman , even after becoming his CI, Neal still had that urge to go to the other side of the law. What if, what if he really was planning the whole damn thing! But then suddenly something clicked in his mind and his smile broadened

"Okay..okay, I get it. I made you go through this hell" pointing at the staggering case files, " so now you are torturing me to get back at me, right! "

Neal's features still didn't change when he said " oh! Come on Peter, I even had El's role planned, and about Satchmo..."

"Stop it..just stop it. Don't you dare say Satchmo's name here, you have already used him once". Peter was getting frustrated now..

Finally Neal took pity on him and smiled a genuine smile. " relax Peter, I wasn't planning on anything "

Peter laughed and that got Neal confused. " what? You think only you can joke here?

Neal smiled more, " okay okay, call it even, alright"

"Yeah, because I really don't have time now, El's planning on murdering me, if I don't reach home soon"

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go " Neal closed the file and stood up. His hand moved to take his fedora from the bobbing Socrates when the elevator dinged. He and Peter both shared the same confused look as to who might be at the office at this hour.

The elevator opened and out came a man who was probably in his forties, maybe around Peter's age. Peter's expression changed from confusion to surprise to happiness as the man approached them . They both looked at each other and were suddenly embracing each other. They parted and Peter patted on the man's right shoulder.

"My God! Miller! Long time! Never thought I'd be seeing you again "

Miller smiled and reached out to pat Peter's shoulder too. " yeah, me too. How long do you think it's been? 10 years.. 12 years..?

"It's actually 14 year, Len! Man, I am so happy to see you after all these years "

"Yeah, Peter, same here"

Neal cleared his throat and that caused both the men to look in his direction. Peter realized Neal was here too.

"Len, this is Neal.. Neal Caffrey, my CI"

Len Miller turned his attention towards Neal, who was silently watching the conversation between Peter and Len Miller. Len Miller had good height, around 6ft 4. His hair was blond with curls and had the most sparkling green eyes , Neal had ever seen. He was wearing an expensive black suit. All this made him a commanding personality.

Len was first to bring his hand out to meet Neal's. "C I huh? You must be good, if you are Peter's C I" his green eyes boring into Neal's blue ones.

Even if Neal was intimidated by Len, he didn't show. He smiled his famous Caffrey smile and took Len's stretched out hand to shake it.

" Nice to meet you too, Mr..." He conviniently ignored the other guys question and looked in the direction of Peter for assistance.

Peter slapped a hand to his forehead and said , " yeah, sorry, I forgot. Neal this Len Miller.. Leonard Miller. We were together in the college. But suddenly he had to leave because of his dying father and joined their family business of cold storage. "

Neal nodded " glad to meet you Mr Miller. " He shook Len's hand politely. Len shook firmly before turning back to Peter..

"I just arrived in the city and knew you lived here, so I had to come meet you." Len chukled. " I knew that the Bureau would be closed but still took a chance and I definitely am lucky to meet you" showing off his perfectly white teeth. " but I must take my leave now, I'm sure you guys are heading home too"

Neal remained silent still observing Len Miller. Since childhood he was an expert in reading people. And his gut feeling was telling him that Len Miller was NOT the person he was acting like.

Peter chukled too " yeah actually we were just leaving. El's waiting for me at home. You should come home some day , Lenny , El will be glad. "

"I'm sure she would be" Len smiled " but it's late tonite.. I will come meet you tomorrow here Peter and then we can spend entire day remembering the golden days. Sounds good? "

Peter readily agreed to Len and then Len bid goodbye to both him and Neal. He then turned to Neal and gestured towards the elevator. Neal picked up his fedora and twirled it and placed it on his head and in the elevator Neal finally spoke after Peter pressed ground floor button.

"Peter , what do you think about Len? I mean what kind of a person is he? "

"Len? Oh he's really a gentleman. He's the most decent guy you will ever meet. He's coming tomorrow, I am sure you will see what a nice person he is"

Neal just nodded but mutual tered to himself ' I rather really not "

The elevator dinged indicating that they reached the ground floor. They got out and headed towards the parking lot. They reached Peter's Tauras and Peter gestured at Neal to hop in but Neal just declined saying That Peter shouldn't be anymore late than he already was and he really wouldn't want to witness his massacre. Peter rolled his eyes in return and asked instead.

"You sure? I mean I can really drop you first" Peter really cared about the kid and felt like it was his responsibility to see him safe but would never ever admit that. Never admit that Neal wasn't just a CI but a family too.

Neal only glared " really Peter I am an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of myself". Peter noticed the warning and raised his hands as in surrender and got into the car and drove off telling Neal that he would see him tomorrow in the Bureau . Neal took a deep breath and adjusted his fedora and took off walking in the direction of June's.

...…...

Neal must not have walked more than a minute when a black Mercedes with black tainted windows stopped right next to him on his left. The window of the back seat on the right rolled down and Neal was surprised was least to say.

"Hey Neal! you don't mind me calling you Neal , do you" Len smiled and Neal was getting irritated with that smile more and more. But he just nodded his approval . " come on in, I will give a lift. Come on , jump in " Len said, still flashing those 32 teeths. Neal had this sudden urge to punch the man right there and knock those teeths out but he held himself. Peter wouldn't be happy about it.

"Um..thankyou, Mr Miller but my home isn't far , I can walk , the climate is perfect for a walk too" Neal flashed his own 32 teeths which nobody could ever resist.

"Please, I insist, come on" Len shifted himself to left to give Neal room. Finally resigning Neal climbed in. His face was still turned towards the door when suddenly he felt a sharp pain on the left side of the base of his neck. His left hand automatically shoot upwards to place it where the needle had pierced his skin and he turned to his left to face Len Miller.

Len Miller's face was already a blur as dizziness started to creep in. He raised his hands to grasp Len's collar but his limbs didn't obey him and they flopped to his sides. He slumped more into the seat and saw Len's white teeth shining through blur. Len was smiling as he said " sleep well Mr Caffrey and enjoy the ride"

Neal felt his eyes droop and darkness surrounding and just as he gave in to the darkness, his last thought was ' maybe I should have punched him'

 _Phew! I finally wrote it. Please feel free to point out my mistakes :)_


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all, I really am so happy. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following my story.**

 **Secondly, i know I made many mistakes in the last chapter..but really I'm trying to correct myself. English is really not my first language so it's a little tough, but I'm trying. Feel free to point them out :) thanks again :)**

 **...**

Peter parked his car and leaned his head on the stearing wheel. God! He was really really tired. The past hour came back to him . His long forgotten friend had suddenly showed up and he was very delighted to see him. He smiled a bit thinking about their meet in the Bureau. But then suddenly felt his stomach tying itself in a knot as the face of his handsome CI came into his mind. He had this sudden urge to call Neal and ask him if he had reached at June's yet.

He took out his cellphone and his finger hovered over his friend's name but just as he was about to press call, He remembered Neal's glare and telling him something about him being an adult and being capable of taking care of himself. Peter didn't really agree on both the things though. First, Neal's boyish charm and kiddish nature definitely didn't categorize him as an adult and because of that he definitely couldn't take care of himself, right? Because a kid can't really take of himself..Peter was automatically laughing at this thought of his and decided he really must be tired to not think properly. He pocketed his phone and finally got out of the car and went home.

El was curled up on the couch reading some magazine for the hundredth time. She heard the front door open , so she threw the magazine and padded towards her husband and wrapped him in a tight but warm hug.

"Mmm.. You are finally home, I thought you wouldn't come tonight "

"It feels good to be home, Hon. It's so very relaxing." Suddenly Peter broke away and stared at El " you really aren't planning on murdering me tonight, right? "

El giggled " well.. That depends.. " she drawled out.

"Depends on what" Peter was skeptical about asking but still went ahead with it.

"Depends on who has come home tonight. Is it Special Agent Peter Burke or just my husband Peter" . El was looking damn serious about it.

Peter knew better and said " ofcourse Hon, it's Peter , your charming and lovable husband" and hugged her.

"Good! You are spared for tonight then. Dinner? " Peter shook his head and replied " no El.. Really tired, just want to sleep it off". El nodded and said "Come on then let's get some sleep before you have to get into that Special Agent mode in the morning."

"Honey, you remember, I used to talk about my old college mate.. Leonard Millar.. Who had to quit college to join family business? " Peter asked.

El snuggled deeper at the crook of Peter's neck and hummed .. " What about him?.."

"Well, today he showed up the the bureau like after 14 years, El, I am so glad about it" Peter replied with a smile.

"Oh that's nice, sweetheart, why don't you bring him over for lunch tomorrow, I have work tomorrow morning but will be free by afternoon ".

"Hmm..that sounds like a good idea. Will ask him out when he comes tomorrow at the office."

They shared a soft kiss and parted again and El headed for the stairs and to their bedroom but Peter's words stopped her

"Just a sec El, let me just check Neal's anklet and I will be right with you. " Peter headed towards his laptop but stopped when he saw El's eyes shooting daggers at him. " ofcourse he's fine and sleeping, right? " Peter chuckled nervously. He really didn't want to upset El but the horrible feeling in his stomach was creeping back.

El smiled" ofcourse honey, I am sure Neal's fine and sleeping. I'm sure he is capable of taking care of himself for one night, right?" Peter groaned. Why did everybody consider Neal an adult! But the way she said it left no doubt in Peter's mind as to not argue with her. Sighing he joined her and headed for the bedroom. His head hadn't even hit the pillow and he was dead to the world.

...

Somebody was slapping his cheek repeatedly and that was irritating him to no limits. Didn't they know not to disturb somebody's beauty sleep? But the slapping continued and he groaned " Come on Moz, I'm trying to sleep here" . But instead of stopping the person slapped him hard and his eyes shot open! Neal was suddenly overcome with nausea. He first thought was to empty the contents of his stomach on the person who slapped him, but decided against it and closed his eyes again.

Slowly Neal opened his eyes, he was still feeling very groggy and his head was pounding mercilessly and the nauseous feeling was back again with full force and this time he didn't hold back and retched. When he was done, he looked straight and saw that someone was standing but it was all blurry. He blinked a few times to clear his mind.

Again he closed his eyes and opened them slowly for the third time and that someone who was standing in front of him became clear and then he groaned. There standing in front of him was Leonard Miller with his 32 teeths shining.

"Aah! Finally you are awake. Welcome to the land of the living. But I must say you are not looking good here. And nope that was not Mozzie " Len smirked. Neal wanted nothing but to get one punch , just one punch. That was not going to happen soon so he just glared or rather tried to because the effects of the drug given to him were still making him feeling worse .

Len noticed " don't worry to much about it Neal. The sedative was really strong so the effects will take longer to wear off" . Neal scoffed, as if Len actually cared about his health but still remained quiet and was discreetly assessing where he was. He noted that he was sitting on some metal chair with hands tied behind his back with tight rope. 'Great' he thought, Len really had done his homework and not cuffed him. Other than the horrible headache , nausea, his still stinging cheek from the slap and the ropes that were digging into his skin he was not harmed and that was a relief.

He also noticed that he was only wearing his shirt and slacks, his jacket and tie were gone. He then took note of the room. It was a small room with nothing but the chair in which he was sitting and had no windows but only a door. Neal turned his attention to Len and saw that he watching him with great interest. Neal returned his stare confidently but after a few minutes he got tired of this game and was frustrated , so he finally asked

"What? I'm sure you didn't kidnap me just so you can gawk at me. So just tell me the reason to be here , when I should be home sleeping " . His blue eyes were blazing with anger. But Len remained silent, still watching him. Neal sighed and took a deep breath before continuing " you know you can't hold me here forever, Peter will find me , he always does. Then you will pay" . He kept his voice low but strong not showing the fear he was starting to feel under Len's stare. Was this guy some psycho or what? But maybe Len noticed it as he finally spoke..

"About that" he paused. Green eyes looking at the blue ones without blinking. " We are just going to make a call to Peter and you will say exactly as it is written in this paper " . He pulled out a sheet of paper from his pants pocket. Neal couldn't help but laugh,

"Did you really think that I was going to do that" . Still eying the paper wondering what was written in that .

"Yeah I didn't really think you will do what I ask but I have my ways to convince you" Len smiled. Neal grimaced. Not that smile again! "Raees" Len called out.

A man who could easily win a gold medal in boxing entered the room . But that was not what caught Neal's attention. The man named Raees was holding a gun in his hand. Neal gulped, he really hated guns. He kept his face passive not showing any outward sign of fear. He turned to Len and stared back at him stubbornly.

Len nodded at Raees. Raees came forward and without warning he punched Neal in the face with a powerful right hook. Neal cried out in pain. And again before Neal could adjust to the pain , the left hook was delivered. Neal was sure that his jaw was broken. His entire face was throbbing in pain. And he was feeling dizzy again. But still he decided he wouldn't read the paper and just stared at Len.

Shaking his head, Len faced Raees , " I will count till three. If he doesn't say yes by then , shoot him". Len's voice was cold but his expressions were something else and Neal didn't understand what! " one... " Neal's eyes flickered from Len to Raees but didn't say anything. " two.." Raees's grip on the gun tightened and aimed. Neal swallowed hard. His mouth was so dry. He was really thirsty and hungry since he hadn't eaten anything after an early lunch. But that was not the immediate problem, no the problem was the gun. " three."

The shot was fired and Neal instinctively closed his eyes as he felt something whoosh past his right ear . His heart began thumping wildly as if warning him that it might burst out any minute any second. For a moment he thought the bullet had hit him and he was going to die here... But then he didn't feel any pain. He slowly opened his eyes and they traveled straight to Len who was smiling like he'd gone crazy. Neal was shivering a little, and he didn't know whether it was the near death experience or the cold room, but he decided it was the first reason.. He turned his neck behind his right and saw that the bullet was safely embedded in the wall.

Len stopped smiling and looked dead serious. "This was just a trailer, Neal, but Raees will not miss the second time. So please just call Peter and read this, it's really very simple.

Neal still didn't say anything but only stared at Len with what he thought was full confidence, but his body was betraying him. He could tell that by the still thumping of his heart and the imperceptible shiver going through his entire body.

Len shook his head again in disappointment and his face became resolved. Still staring Neal, he said " Raees... I repeat.. I will count till three... If by then our boy here doesn't agree to do what we say, shoot him.." He paused and stared at Neal with such intensity that Neal felt a chill run through his spine... And then Len continued " one... " .. Neal felt his breath catch in his throat. " two..." . The thump thump of his heart doubled the speed and Neal looked out right terrified. " thre..."

"YES.. Yes I will do it, don't shoot okay" Neal shouted and slumped in the chair even more feeling defeated. He then thought he just had to read some useless things to Peter. And he could do that if he wanted to live.

"Good decision..Kid" Len gestured Raees to lower the gun and stood closer to Neal and held out the paper in front of him to read. Raees lowered his gun and took out a cellphone from his pocket and Neal's eyes widened realising that it was his. Raees dialled Peter's number and pressed the cell to Neal's ears..

It kept ringing and Neal thought, this is it, they are going to kill me now. He prayed for Peter to answer . After what felt like ages, Peter answered .

"Neal...? " His voice thick from sleep. " Do you have any idea what time is it?" He yawned. " this better be important " he just wanted to go back to sleep.

Neal stared at Len and then at Raees who had his gun back and was pressing it hard at his temple. Neal winced before speaking. His jaw was aching and head was still spinning but he steeled himself and spoke..

"Um..Peter, it really is important. I just wanted to say goodbye to you before I left" . His eyes widened at that but continued " you were good Peter and really did to an extent help me become more of a man than a con but it just didn't work. I can't live away from that rush".

"What? Neal I really don't have time for your jokes now. Didn't you enjoy yourself enough in the bureau? I just want to have a peaceful night's sleep " . Peter rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"It's not a joke Peter.. I already have left and am already out of my two miles radius " Neal's eyes automatically drifted towards his left ankle and surely there was no anklet.

Peter too automatically reached for his laptop to check Neal's anklet and relaxed when he saw it was still blinking and location was at June's. He was getting angry at Neal now. " Neal please just sleep and let me sleep, okay" he gritted his teeth.

"Yeah go back to sleep Peter because by the time you wake up I will be gone. And no need to track Mozzie as we are in this together " Neal felt a jolt of fear. What had they done to Mozzie? He was about to ask forgetting that Peter was still on the other side, but Len put a finger to his mouth to silence him and gestured him to continue talking..

Peter thought Neal had finally disconnected the call and had the sense to cut his joke here, but then he saw the call was still on. " Neal.. Neal? .. You there?"

"Goodbye Peter. Hopefully you will be able to catch me just like old times". Neal had barely finished talking and Raees pulled the cell and switched it off.

"Yeah, whatever ". Peter was still too sleepy to think about what Neal just said . So he just shut his cellphone and headed back to sleep after glancing at the tracker showing Neal's location. The kid was at home , so no need to worry , maybe tomorrow he might strangle him for disturbing his sleep. Deep down he knew nothing should ever be taken lightly with Neal, but he was just too tired to think straight.

Len folded back the paper and put it back in his pocket. " very well done..kid" . He ruffled Neal's hair as if in affection. Neal jerked his head away.

"Don't touch me" . He shouted. "What do you want? Where is Mozzie? What did you do to him? "

In return Len just flicked his eyes towards Raees and nodded. Neal turned to face Raees. His eyes widened in fear as Raees pulled out a syringe filled with clear liquid.

Neal began struggling against his bonds but they were too tight and wouldn't budge. "Hey! Wait!..I'm tied up to the chair here...where will I go." He pleaded desperately. He didn't like being drugged.

Len smiled and replied "Now we all know what you are capable of Neal. So just can't take the risk." He nodded again to his partner. Raees inserted the needle at the base of Neal's neck and the familiar dizziness started to come. The room began spinning and everything became a blur.

Len came forward and patted his head " sleep well Neal". He straightened his clothes, adjusted his tie " I have got an old friend to meet later today". He and Raees left the room closing it behind them.

Neal struggled helplessly as darkness once again came to claim him with full force and his last thoughts before finally giving in were ' Peter will find me, he always does.'

...

 **I really hope you guys like it . Thanks :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for reading reviewing following & favouriting my story. You guys are awesome :)**

******************.

Agent Peter Burke was running late. He had come home late last night and had barely been asleep when his criminal consultant had suddenly decided to joke with him. And after that he had slept like a bear. But now he was really late. El had already left after making him breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. He polished off his breakfast as quickly as he could manage and left for work, plotting about the ways in which he could murder his friend for making him late..

Peter reached the Bureau in a record time. He hastily parked his Tauras and after getting out he headed towards the White Collar division of the FBI building. The elevator dinged 21 and he got out and entered the bullpen. His eyes automatically went to Neal's desk. It was just like his friend had left last night. ' Ofcourse' Peter thought, his friend must be still sleeping in his luxurious home. He sighed. ' well.. Can't really murder a sleeping guy, no fun in that' .. He decided to wait an hour for Neal. He turned his head in the direction of Jones and nodded.

"Anything Jones"

"No Boss. It seems that suddenly the white collar criminals have decided to go clean " Jones smirked.

Peter groaned " Great! That means more mortgage fraud case files..." Jones made a sad face and nodded . " Well then bring them on.. Can't keep them waiting" . He climbed up the stairs and went to his office.

After about one and a half hour later of waiting patiently for Neal to arrive at the Bureau, Peter was starting to get impatient and irritated. He had checked the tracking information of his friend a hundred times already and it still showed him that Neal was still at June's. Finally he decided to call him. He pulled out his cell and dialed Neal's number. It was answered by a computer voice..

' Sorry the number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable ' .

Peter stared at the phone with a look of confusion. Neal had called him just last night, then how his cell is suddenly unavailable today? He tried the number again and he got the same reply again. He decided that he would go to June's himself and check on Neal. He had just vacated the chair when Agent Diana Berrigan knocked his door and entered.

"Boss, there's someone who's come to see you, a guy in his late forties ".

"Me? " Peter sat back and said " yeah, alright.. Send him in" .

"Alright Boss. " Diana nodded and left. She returned seconds later. And a new voice called out.

"Hey Peter! Good morning " ..

Peter looked up at the new voice and smiled. " hey Len! Come on in . Didn't think you'd show up this early". They greeted each other while Diana took her leave to let them talk. Len then took the seat across Peter , the seat which was so often occupied by Neal.

"Well.. I'm on a tight schedule and have to head back home soon, so I thought of utilizing the optimum time with my old friend here" Len replied with a smile..

"Aah..yes" Peter forced a smile and continued " I know we made plans Len but I'm afraid that I won't be able to spend more time with you. You see something has come up and I really have to attend that first " his eyes kept flickering between Len and his laptop, making sure , Neal was still at June's.

Len shook his head, " hey, it's ok Peter, I totally understand your situation. Work definitely comes first. So don't worry much about me.. I can manage to entertain myself in this city. "

Peter suddenly remembered El telling him to invite Len over for lunch. " Len, I will most probably be free around lunch time and El has also told me to invite you over for lunch. Do you think you can join us? "

Len's smile brightened. " ofcourse Peter, wouldn't miss it... I will give you a call around lunch and then I will come over at your place. "

"Sure, definitely " Peter's eyes flickered again. Len who had noticed it before too, finally feigning concern asked,

"I know, it's not my concern but Peter, you seem a little off. Is there something that is bothering you" . Len's eyes showed real concern and Peter felt like he should share his worry with his friend. He ran both his hands through his hair and sighed..

"Len , you met Neal yesterday right?..."

" Neal who?... Your C I? " Len lied despite knowing very well who Neal was.

"Yeah my C I... Actually Len he's two hours late today.. And his anklet is showing that he's still at home, which is really confusing, because Neal never does that. " Peter laughed.." Actually you know, he called me yesterday night and joked about going out of his two miles radius and leaving for good.."

"Oh..wow! ...you think it was a joke because..? "

" Because I checked his anklet..when he said he was already out of his radius.. He was still at his home only.. So I knew he was joking.. " chuckling Peter continued " actually he does joke around .. So I had no doubt that he was joking yesterday too.. I was too tired and sleepy too to think clearly at the time..But now..." He paused to think... ' what if...what if... Neal really did run' ..

"But now you are thinking that he really ran?" Damn! Len had to say it out loud..and Peter nodded at Len automatically.

"Well.. I'm going right now to his apartment and check out myself about it."

"Yes ofcourse.. You get going.. I will take my leave too.. But lunch is fixed right? "

"Yes, definitely..Len" Peter got out of his chair and Len did the same and they both headed towards the elevator.

When they reached on the ground floor Peter asked

" Len, do you want a lift?..I can drop you off wherever you want to go" .

"Thanks Peter, but no , I will take a cab, as it is you are already late because of me. You go get to your CI... I will meet you at lunch. " inwardly saying ' though you aren't going to find him, whereas I am headed straight there to see him' .

"Okay then... " Peter took off in the direction of his Tauras while Len waited for the cab. Within half a minute, the black Mercedes stopped in front of Len and after he was settled in, the car took off.

Len was immediately lost in the thoughts of yesterday's event.. He remembered how after drugging Neal and making sure he was out cold, they had proceeded to June's, like Neal would have done. When they reached June's , Raees who was in the driver's seat turned and faced Len who nodded at him.. And he got out of the car and went inside June's mansion but not before Len telling him to make it quick. Len took out the key to the anklet Neal was wearing and bend down and removed the anklet . After a few seconds it was blinking green. .. After a moment Raees was back in his seat and again he turned to look at Len.

Len shook Neal but he remained dead to the world. Len stared at the unconscious man for a few seconds and then shook his head as if sad and whispered ' sorry kid, but this has to be done' . He straightened and only nodded to Raees and they were on the road again.

**********.

Peter reached at June's as fast as he could without breaking any traffic rules. He knew he would get that damn computer voice on Neal's cell, but he just couldn't understand why his friend's phone was suddenly unavailable, so he kept dialing it and it kept telling him the number was unavailable. Peter's worry was increasing tenfold. If ths turned out to be one of Neal's joke..there will be no planning...he'd just kill him outright.. Or maybe just haul him back to the jail. But the dread growing in the pit of his stomach was telling him that this was not joke.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He finally got out of the car and made his way towards Neal's apartment. The door was locked so he sighed in relief because if the door was locked, there wasn't any break in. He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. A moment later the landlady June Ellington answered..

"Hey.. Good morning Peter.. How are you?.. Come on in.." with a warm smile.

"Hello..June.. " Peter replied smiling. " when did you return? "

"Just an hour ago Peter.. " she looked over Peter's shoulder and then asked " where's Neal?.. Shouldn't he be with you at this hour? "

"Umm..actually..June..Neal's the reason I'm here . You didn't go upstairs and see him , did you? " Peter asked hoping that June will give a positive answer but his heart was telling him otherwise..

"No..actually..Peter.. Didn't really think about going upstairs, I thought he must be at the bureau. " she paused thinking.. " and now to think about it, I haven't seen Bugsy either."

Peter shook his head in disbelief " June, you mind if I check out Neal's room?"

"Ofcourse not Peter, but is Neal alright? " concern written all over her face.

"June.. Neal hasn't shown up in the office today and I'm really hoping that he's upstairs sleeping." Even as he said this, he knew he wouldn't find Neal upstairs.

"Yeah.. Okay.. " June said. Though she didn't look too convinced with what Peter said.

Peter then went past her and climbed the stairs and knocked at the door of Neal's room. " Neal.. Neal? You in there? " he raised his voice just in case Neal was actually sleeping. But nobody answered either him or the door. Waiting no more, he unlocked the door and went right in..

The room was exactly in the same condition Peter had seen it when he was here yesterday morning to pick up Neal. Nothing seemed out of place. Peter called out again, " Neal?... Neal.. You in here?.. " He headed towards Neal's bed and was surprised to see June's dog, Bugsy sleeping there. He neared to the bed and his surprised expression turned into one of shock. There right around the dog's neck was Neal's anklet which was blinking green mockingly at him. He ran a hand through Bugsy's fur and was confused as to why the dog hadn't stirred. Surprise and shock were thrown out the window and only anger and frustration filled Peter.

The dog was drugged unconscious. He suddenly thought of the last conversation he had with Neal. His criminal consultant friend had told him that he was leaving for good. Dread pooled at the pit of his stomach. Was what Neal had told him true!

Seething in anger, he could only say .. " What have you done Neal?"

June who had followed Peter after a moment was shocked too. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that not only had Neal gone but had also used Bugsy the second time too! She shared a look with Peter , who was also thinking along the same line. Peter then pulled out his cell and called his team.

"Jones, bring the team here at Neal's. Also send a paramedic too." He clicked the phone shut before even Jones had the chance to reply and rubbed a hand to his face. He looked around the apartment just like an FBI agent would. Nothing was out of place. There seemed no sign of struggle. His thoughts again drifted toward the call last night from Neal. His sleepy mind hadn't concentrated to what Neal was saying. He closed his eyes and thought what exactly had Neal said. He had said leaving forever because he chose to be a con and he also said that Mozzie too was in this. Only one way to confirm this was to try and talk to Mozzie personally.

The problem was that the little guy was ever elusive. The only way to contact him was either Neal or El. Neal was not available so that left El. He dialed El's cell and requested her to get hold of Mozzie as soon as possible. He didn't give her any reason yet . No need to worry her so soon.

His thoughts went to his friend. Why would he suddenly run? Nothing had happened which would suggest that his friend would skip town. Even though Neal had changed over the time, but Peter couldn't deny that his friend still had that urge to do things he had done in past and Neal had definitely done exactly that while being his CI too. But what happened that he suddenly left?

But while his brain was telling that Neal had left voluntarily, his heart was telling that Neal didn't run, that he was in trouble. The knot in his stomach was tying again very tightly. Finally he decided, No! His friend didn't run and was definitely in some trouble. He just hope wherever his friend was he was safe. A tiny little voice spoke again..What if?...

**********************.

Leonard Miller walked into his temporary home where he was guesting Neal. He loosened his tie and made his way towards Neal's room. He met Raees guarding the door. "How is he? "

"He's still out of it" Raees replied blankly.

"Hmm.." Len and Raees both entered the room. Neal was still unconscious. His chin was resting on his chest. His brown curls were obscuring his face. Len approached him and stood there for a few seconds without doing anything. He then pushed the curls away to get the clear view of his captive's face. He then lifted Neal's chin to make sure he was still out of it.

"Has he shown any sign of waking up? "

"No. I've checked him every fifteen minutes just like it was decided. "

"Good.." Len tapped Neal's cheeks repeatedly to see if he got any reaction but the latter didn't move. " I'm going to the Burkes for lunch and will be back as soon as I can. " Raees nodded.

"We need him conscious, so don't sedate him again, if he begins to wake up."

"Yeah .. I know."

"But we know how smart he is, so don't even flick your eyes away from him."

"I know how to do my job." Raees replied, a little irritated.

Len sighed. "Yeah I know that Raees." He turned Neal's face in his direction to see him clearly. He looked so young so innocent, just like... Just like... NO! Len squashed any further thoughts forming in his mind and let go off Neal's face and gestured Raees to follow him out of the room.

The sound at the door indicated that it was locked again leaving Neal alone sitting in the chair. For a few moments, nothing changed in the room but then Neal's eyes flicked open!

*******************.

 **Hope you guys liked it :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heartfelt thanks to all those who are still reading this story :-)**

************************.

Peter was back in the bureau after his team had done surveillance of Neal's home. Nothing much had come out of it except some unknown cash and a few passports with Neal's pictures with different names. He definitely was going to have a long talk with his friend. That is if and when he found him safe and sound. His team was gathering in the conference room to discuss about Neal and he had a few minutes spare, so he decided to call El and ask her if she got in touch with the eccentric guy. After giving an answer in negative, El showered her own questions,

"What is it Peter? What are you not telling me?.. Why is it that you desperately need to get in touch with Mozzie?.. Is Neal alright?"

Wow! El definitely was a smart woman, Peter thought. So he told her about everything that transpired from last night to this hour. El had expressed her confusion, surprise, shock , concern and doubt at the right parts. They were still talking when Jones came in notifying him that everyone was there in the conference room waiting for him.

"El, I gotta go now." Peter said nodding at Jones indicating that he was coming .

"Yeah..yeah Peter, you go.. I will keep trying and get in touch with Moz. Love you hon. "

"Yeah ..Me too El. "

"Peter..?.."

"Yeah..?"

"You will find him, okay. He will be fine ."

"Yeah.. I know " Peter smiled. His wife definitely knew him. She knew he wouldn't be okay until he found Neal. He clicked his phone shut and made way to the conference room.

*********************.

"So this is all we got and that is nothing." Said Peter feeling so frustrated that he banged his fist on the table and some agents present there actually jumped. The team of agents were present at the conference room with Peter and Hughes standing at the head of the table with their backs to the large picture of Neal Caffrey on the screen.

"Jones..check out Neal's tracker from yesterday night.. After we left the building to head home.. And Diana, yesterday night at around three something, Neal had called from his cell.. I want the location of it at that time."

"On it already Boss." Diana answered.

"Boss..?.. " Jones called out and Peter came over to him . " Caffrey's tracker is showing that after you guys exited the building, he probably hired a cab. He is in constant motion here, you see?" Jones looked over his shoulder and met Peter's eyes and Peter nodded. " it seems from here that he went straight to June's and he's been there all night and the entire morning too , that is until you went there looking for him."

Peter rolled his eyes " Yeah..well, we all know who we found there resting in Neal's bed." Peter said dryly.

"Boss.." Diana started " I can't find the location of Caffrey's mobile. Must have removed the GPS chip somehow." She finished raising her eyebrow.

"Mo... " Peter stopped himself before he could speak Mozzie's name. He didn't know for sure whether Neal ran or not. But his heart was definitely in favour of Neal, telling him he did not run voluntarily. So he didn't want to give away Neal's friend's name. If truth be told, even though his and Mozzie's relationship was little awkward, he considered him as his friend too. He knew Mozzie would never let him rest in peace if his name was in the system.

Peter gestured to Diana and Jones to keep hush too. " don't worry, Boss , we will find Caffrey, you know it better, you caught him twice." Diana said

"Yeah.." Peter rubbed a hand over his face. " I just hope that we find him in time."

Before he could say anything further his mobile rang. "Burke"..he paused..

"Oh hey Len.." He left the conference room but not before gesturing his team to keep working.

**************************.

Neal had returned to the world of living moments before Leonard Miller had arrived back from wherever hell he had gone. He had awakened to the familiar pounding of his head, only this time it was worse. The nausea had returned too. But he held himself. And he was very thirsty and hungry. Hunger he could cope up with but his thirst was intensifying with each passing second. He knew dehydration was setting in. He was already feeling a little lightheaded.

He had just managed to get his bearings back when he suddenly heard the door click open. Not able to do anything else Neal had decided to play dead in front of his kidnappers. When Len and Raees came through the door he did his level best to keep his breathing even and tried his hardest to not flinch when Len grasped his chin or tapped his cheeks. It was getting difficult to keep up his act as he could literally feel his abductors eyes on him. He listened to their conversation and held back a gasp when he heard Len telling Raees that he and Peter were having lunch together.

When he thought that he was just about to give up, Len and Raees finally departed. For a few seconds or minutes he didnt dare open his eyes, afraid that the psycho and his henchman will return. When he thought it was safe enough he finally opened his eyes. His heart was beating real fast. He had heard his kidnappers talk. They were planning to do something and he was required for that. But he sure wasn't planning on sticking around to find out what.

Peter must have finally realised that he was missing. Would he be looking for him? Neal chuckled, ofcourse Peter would look for him. But what would he think? Would Peter think that he ran or would he think that he was in trouble and did not run? Peter had not taken him seriously yesterday night when he had been forced to call him. What would Peter do now that he really was missing? Would he take his warning seriously? Or he will believe that his friend is in some danger?

Whatever decision Peter would arrive at...Neal knew Peter will move heaven and earth to find him. He had once told Peter that he trusted him the most and because of this trust only he knew Peter would find him but did Peter trust him? He laughed sadly. He had always given Peter the reasons not to trust him. Trust or no trust , Peter had always helped him. So yes, Neal thought, Peter would definitely rescue him.

His thoughts went back to the conversation he had heard a few minutes ago. He really couldn't understand why had Len kidnapped him. He had never met that guy before. He was Peter's friend, so was it possible he was holding some grudge against him and now was looking for revenge? But Len had never mentioned any such thing. Infact he was surprised when he had heard that Peter and Len were meeting for lunch. His head was spinning more now with all these thoughts. He had to get out of here. Peter would definitely find him but he wasn't sure when so he decided to plan his own rescue attempt.

For making a break for it, he had to get out of those tight ropes with which he was tied. He knew they were too tight but he had to at least try. So he began twisting and turning the ropes. The more he tried to loosen them the more they dug into his skin and he could feel blood trickling down his wrists. The task was daunting but he was not deterred. He kept trying it. He was also careful to feign unconsciousness when true to his words, Raees had come in every fifteen minutes.

Raees would come in every fifteen minutes, walk up to Neal , shake him to be sure he was still out and leave. Neal was getting tired by the second and he felt like the ropes wouldn't give away. He was about to give up when he finally felt the ropes loosening. He knew he was rewarded for his hard work when the ropes finally fell. He sighed in relief "thank god! thank god!"

He brought his hands forward slowly and rolled his shoulders for blood circulation. He then saw the condition of his wrists and so horrified to see how bloody and torn they were. But he knew if he didn't get out of here, his wrists will not be the only problem. He stood up and was hit by a wave of dizziness and his legs buckled too.

He sat back down and clutched his head with both his hands to stop the spinning.

After he felt a little better he looked around to see how was he going to escape. There was nothing but the door and to get past that he had to face Raees who would be coming in any minute. He mentally prepared himself and took a deep breath and waited.

"Come on, come on, Raees!"

*********************.

"The lunch was delicious, El, thank you." Len said smiling.

"Well, thank you ..Len for coming over. And I'm glad you enjoyed the meal." El replied sweetly.

Leonard Miller and Peter both had arrived to the Burke home a little before an hour. El was already present and the house was filled with delicious aroma. After the introductions all three of them sat and had lunch , chatting amicably. Even though it was very clear to Len that both El and Peter were trying to act normal while inside they were real worried about a certain CI. Infact he was sure that the Burkes had not avoided the lunch with him today just so keep them diverted from their pain.

"Why don't you guys sit on the couch and talk. I will clean up here and join you." El said, already clearing the dishes. Peter and Len both nodded in agreement.

"So Len, you didn't say much about your wife? " Peter asked after settling on the couch.

"Um..yeah.. Sarah was an angel." Len paused as his face looked like he was in extreme pain. " she is no more." He took a seat beside Peter.

"Oh..I am so sorry, Lenny..." Peter said sympathetically.

"Hey..it's okay, Peter.. I'm fine now. I mean I miss her but yeah I'm okay."

"So.. You have any kids?"

Len looked at Peter as if he had asked him if had murdered anyone. Even if Peter noticed it, he didn't comment yet..

Finally after several seconds Len answered " Um..um..yeah.. I got a son Peter. He's going to be sixteen next month..." He was starting to shake a little .

"Oh that's nice, Len.. What's his name? " Peter asked sensing that something was wrong with his friend.

"Joseph..Joe... He's my life Peter. I have no one but only him"

Before Peter could ask anything else he his friend, El came and joined them. "So.. Anything special you guys talking about? " she asked.

"Yeah..yeah.. I was thinking why don't you guys have any kids yet." Len expertly directed the question to them to distract Peter.

The couple was silent for a moment but Peter answered " well.. Really didn't give much thought about it..my work and her work.. It's actually crazy..."

"And plus we have Neal!.." El interrupted Peter, relieving him to say anything more about the sensitive topic. She had just said it to lighten her husband's mood.

Peter laughed.." Actually, El's right.. We have Neal.." Smiling fondly thinking about his friend. He knew El was trying to cheer him up because not having kids even after these many years of marriage was a very emotional topic. But deep down he knew, El knew too, that Neal was definitely like a son to them.

Len raised his eyebrows "Neal..who? Your CI?"

"Yeah.. You know half the gray hair Peter has is because of Neal." El replied laughing.

"Wow! Never saw a handler and CI relationship like this." Len was genuinely surprised.

Peter shook his head laughing lightly " yeah..well..it's actually complicated.. Which started out as a criminal and FBI agent who was gunning for him.. Changed into a handler CI thing. But as time went by.. Neal became more like a friend, like a younger brother and also a son sometimes, and mind you, a very rebellious one at that." Peter stopped talking suddenly and then managing to choke out " just hope he's alright. He's my responsibility, Len.. If anything happens to him... " he couldn't continue. His eyes shone brightly.

El came over to him and gently rubbed his shoulders. " honey.. I'm sure he's alright.. You will find. Just like you always do right. " Peter just nodded.

Len watched the couple silently, their concern for Neal was so strong. He felt his heart ache too but he was helpless, he couldn't do anything about it..

***********************************.

As the fifteen minutes were up, Raees walked into the room and neared Neal. To him his captive was still unconscious. When he was only a foot far from Neal, the latter suddenly lashed out his leg and kicked Raees hard on his kneecap. Raees's leg gave out and he was on the floor on his knees. Neal quickly got to his feet and ignoring his weakness and dizziness. Before he could do anything, Raees punched him in the stomach and he doubled over in pain. Again he was hit hard and he definitely heard a crack. Damn! His ribs had taken a hit, he just prayed that they weren't broken. Yup, definitely the muscle man could win a gold medal, Neal thought. He was sweating now and his entire front was hurting. But he recovered before Raees could do anymore damage and punched him repeatedly and only stopped when Raees stopped moving.

He bent down and searched Raees's pockets for his cell. He had to call Peter. He didn't find it and decided to get out of there as soon as possible. When he would be out he would try calling Peter. He knew his friend would come immediately to get him..

Clutching his hurting stomach, Neal stumbled out of the room. The room in which he was held was at the end of the corridor, so he had to cover a good distance before coming to a set of stairs leading downwards towards the main door. The drugs, the dehydration the punch, everything was making it difficult to walk in a straight line. He kept stumbling. Finally he reached downstairs and made his way to the door.

He reached the door to his freedom after what felt like hours. His hand gripped the handle when ...

"Hey... Pretty face! " Raees shouted from the top stairs.

Neal froze and cursed under his breath. He turned to face Raees who was seething in anger.

Raees wiped the blood on his nose thanks to Neal with his sleeve and pointed his gun at Neal and said coldly " wrong move."

Before Neal could let the words sink in, a shot was fired. His eyes widened with shock first and then he felt blinding pain as his legs refused to support his body. He dropped to his knees and he clutched the wound where he was shot with his left hand. He looked down to his right side where the bullet had pierced his upper arm. Blood started seeping through his fingers and was staining his shirt rapidly.

He looked up and saw Raees standing upstairs with an evil smirk on his face. Neal could only think of one thing, 'he shot me. he shot me.' His vision tunnelled and world started spinning and he lost any balance he had and fell to the floor hitting his head hard . His eyes closed involuntarily as darkness decided to claim him mercifully..


	5. Chapter 5

**Special thanks to everybody who are taking their precious time to read review follow and favourite this story :)**

 **A particular guest had asked when will the person from Neal's past be involved.. Well he is already involved and is already making Neal's life hell, just that he's not shown himself yet ;)**

********************************.

Neal blacked out for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes the first thing he felt was pain. The pain was so overwhelming that he couldn't exactly tell from which body part was it coming from. A few more seconds passed and he could finally tell that most of the pain was coming from his right shoulder. He tried to get up as he felt someone's footsteps nearing him. His ribs protested as he managed to get on all fours. He bit his lip to hold back a scream. Steadying himself he finally got to his knees.

His head felt like someone was hammering nails in it. Most probably a concussion he thought because of the hit he had taken. His left hand automatically went up to his forehead and he could feel wet stickiness there. He brought his hand forward only to confirm that it was blood. His hand went to grasp the wounded shoulder this time. He could feel blood still flowing out of the hole that the bullet had made. He was swaying dangerously. The world seemed to be a blur. Through that blur he could make out someone standing in front of him. He blinked furiously to clear his vision and saw Raees with his ever present evil smirk.

"Looks like...you missed me. I'm still alive." Neal said panting in agony.

Raees laughed " what? You think I aimed to kill? Come on Pretty face, what good it will do if you are dead? I just wanted to teach you what happens when you mess with me. Plus, killing you isn't going to be my honour, that right is already booked by somebody else."

Neal looked at Raees in confusion and struggled the words out " who wants me dead?"

Raees just remained silent and came forward. Neal gasped as the cold metal of the gun rested against his forehead. " who knows...maybe I should get the honour of killing you. Maybe I will be rewarded for it." Raees said with such venom in his voice that made Neal flinch. Raees laughed at this.

Neal closed his eyes. His first thought went to Peter. He now wished he hadn't tried to be such a jerk. He should have waited for him. He should... Any further thought was halted when a loud voice rang out.

"What the hell is going on? What did you do, Raees?"

**************.

Leonard Miller had left the Burke house after spending enough time talking to Peter. He had asked Peter whether he had any lead as to where his CI might be and Peter hadn't given him much details about the case, not that he needed them. Peter had also told him that he had no clue in this case. Len had relaxed at this. But as soon as he entered his temporary home , he caught the sight of Raees looming over Neal who was on his knees and swaying. And was that blood on Peter's friend? He couldn't help but shout.

"What the hell is going on? What did you do Raees?"

Raees removed the gun away and looked up from Neal who had his eyes turned towards Len too. He replied smugly " teaching the pretty face here, who's in charge."

Len looked like he was actually going to be sick. According to Neal, he thought Len was extremely disgusted by what Raees had just said. Maybe it's the concussion and he wasn't thinking clearly. Neal shook his head to clear his mind of such useless thoughts and regretted instantly as his pounding head made it show.

"This is not what we had agreed to. This was not in the deal. Shooting him was NOT the deal." Len's voice rose with every single word and he was practically shouting towards the end.

"Well..let's just say that there are slight changes in the deal." Raees spoke indifferently scratching his left ear. "He was trying to escape."

"But..but .. Look at him.. You didn't have to shoot him." Len's voice shook slightly but he made it clear that it was a command.

Raees grinned evilly, " now now.. Let's first be clear as to who really is in charge here, alright, Lenny." Len gulped. Neal's eyes darted back and forth between Len and Raees. He couldn't make any sense of the conversation that was going on. He was getting really tired now and he just wanted to sleep. Who cared who was in charge of whomsoever. He was definitely not the one in charge. If he was then things would have turned out to be different. He really wasn't thinking properly.

Raees continued " now come on Lenny , you suddenly seem to be worried about the pretty face here." Pointing his gun in direction of Neal. " we really don't want that now, do we , as you see.. Your plate is already full in the worrying department, right Lenny." He sneered.

"We have to get him to the hospital." Len said ignoring Raees and he rushed to Neal and knelt beside him. Neal flinched when Len's hand came out to reach his hurt shoulder.

"Shhhh..shhh..easy ..easy..okay..I'm just checking for the exit wound okay.." Len said in a soothing manner which reminded Neal of Peter. So he let him check for the exit wound, if there was any. Len began his checking and then he muttered something under his breath and sighed. Then he turned to Raees while still holding Neal gently but firmly and said..

"The bullet is still inside, Raees, we have to take him to the hospital, now." His voice held so much concern and worry and Neal couldn't understand this sudden change in him.

"Yeah..well..we can't make that happen now, can we."

"Don't you see.. He's been shot and he's still bleeding and the bullet is still lodged in his arm. He could die."

"Well.. Who cares.. His days are numbered anyways. And as for the bullet.. I have a solution to it."

Len asked skeptical " what solution."

Raees shook his head " don't worry about what solution I have, worry about what will happen if you don't comply with me, alright."

Len clamped his mouth shut. He decided he had to be indifferent about this all if he wanted what he wanted.

Raees came forward and bent down slightly and took hold of Neal's other arm and gestured Len to do the same with the injured arm. Len nodded and together they lifted Neal to a standing position. A moan escaped from Neal's lips. Len again whispered the soothing words to him and he steeled himself.

"Upstairs " Raees spoke .

They half carried half dragged Neal upstairs back to his room and sat him back in the chair that he had vacated earlier.

Neal wasn't able to understand any of the things that were happening to him. He didn't understand why was he back in that damn chair. He wasn't able to understand why his entire body was in pain. His head was throbbing in tune with his heartbeat. His stomach was hurting too much. And his right upper arm was burning up. He was feeling nauseous, his mouth was so dry, it felt like it was stuffed with cotton and was too tired and just wanted to sleep. But the pain was making it impossible for him to do that.

"Go behind the chair and hold him tight. Make sure he doesn't move. We don't want to spill blood from any other part of his body too." Raees ordered Len.

Len went behind Neal and held him tightly by gripping the latter's hands tightly.

Neal was gripped by intense fear. What did his kidnappers have in mind. What were they going to do to him. He struggled fruitlessly against Len's strong grip. He stuttered to Raees, " what are you going to do?"

Raees only grinned viciously and pulled out a knife from his pants pocket. "Sit tight pretty face.. This is going to hurt." His voice was full of malice.

Raees came forward and ripped off the part of the clothing where the bullet had pierced. Neal was shaking and all of his senses were on high alert now. He knew what was coming and he couldn't muster the courage to see it, so he pinched his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable pain that was about to come.

Raees pulled out a lighter from his pocket and started heating the knife. Len's face paled. " I really think we should be taking him to the hospital, Raees. What you are doing is dangerous." He said pleadingly despite the fact that he had been warned to keep mum. Neal couldn't believe that Len was pleading here when in the first place he was the one who had brought him here unwillingly. He opened his eyes and tried to turn around as much as he could and faced Len.

"What? You suddenly seem to have grown a heart." He spat.

Len sighed and replied deadpanned "I really don't think I'm liable to answer you."

"Didn't expect you to either." Neal's voice was filled with disgust.

Raees who was watching the conversation with amusement finally spoke

"Like I said pretty face, this is going to hurt." Neal turned back and automatically his eyes rested on the knife which Raees was heating up with a lighter. His eyes widened in fear and his breath hitched.

He saw Raees's eyes flicking towards Len and nodding at him, the grip on his hands tightened again. Before he could say anything to Raees to stop the cruelty, the latter came forward and pushed the hot knife in to the bullet wound. Neal screamed an ear splitting scream and he again pinched his eyes shut as hot tears of pain rolled down his face. He didn't want to let his abductors think he was weak but the damn tears just didn't stop because the pain was so excruciating.

Raees pushed the knife further and further into the wound. Neal was trembling like a leaf now and kept pleading, "stop it..stop it ..stop it please."

Len could only watch helplessly as Raees continued pushing the knife further. Finally Raees was rewarded when he felt the metal clang with the metal..the bullet.

"Found it." Raees said without any emotion. Fear and pain were making Neal hyperventilate and he gasped out " please..." Though he no longer remembered why was he pleading.

Raees went in further more and with a final push he dug out the bullet which clattered to the floor. Neal screamed again because of the unearthly pain and succumbed to the blissful darkness.

Raees pressed the piece of torn sleeve on the wound which was again gushing blood. He faced Len and said " keep applying pressure here, I will go get some cotton and bandages." Len took over from Raees and pressed firmly on the wound to staunch the flow of blood. He then looked up to Raees and said " Raees he will not survive like this, please. The way you removed the bullet, it will get infected." He paused for response but Raees just stared at him. Len sighed in frustration and ran his hands through his hair " at least please get him some antibiotics, please, please."

Raees thought over what Len said. He knew that the pretty face didn't have many days to live. But he couldn't let him die now. His boss would not be happy with him. He had been clearly advised to not kill his captive as his boss wanted to have that pleasure. He let out a frustrated sigh and complied with Len.

He left unconscious Neal and Len in the room and returned back after sometime with first aid kit. He dressed the wound reluctantly and inserted some painkillers through an injection and said " I did enough for him to survive for now. But couldn't find any antibiotics, guess the pretty face will have to go without it."

"But he will get infected."

"Yeah, well , it's his problem now. You already have a bigger problem than him, so why don't you put your concentration there."

Len let go off the tight pressure and gently made Neal as comfortable as he could make in the chair so that he wouldn't topple over from the chair. He then pushed away the brown curls away from Neal's face. His face was mixed with sweat and tears. Len's heart clenched and he whispered softly " so sorry kid."

Len met Raees's gaze and asked " so now what? "

Raees shrugged his shoulders and replied " we go according to the plan, no changes. He's out cold now but he will come around soon. We clean him up and he's good to go."

Len nodded and scrubbed his face with his hand. He took one last look at Neal and left the room with Raees following him.

*********************************.

Neal groaned as he slowly woke up. He opened his eyes and as he became aware more of himself, he was instantly hit by pain. He was confused first and didn't understand why he was in so much pain. He closed his eyes again and tried to remember the reason of his pain. Everything came to him in full force. Being kidnapped , trying to escape, getting shot and Raees removing the bullet. He eyes flew open and went to the wound.

It was very painful and he was hit by a wave of nausea. He could feel the heat radiating from it. He knew it was beginning to get infected. Blood had stopped flowing. But he knew he had lost too much of it. He was shivering but inside he felt like his entire body was in flames. Fever! Great! Another thing to add to the list of his worries.

He was still lost in his thoughts when suddenly the door opened and in came Len and Raees.

"Wakey wakey, pretty face." Raees smirked and Neal wanted nothing but to wipe that smirk off. Well at least that Len guy wasn't smiling anymore.

"My name is Neal.." He gritted through his teeth.

Raees ignored him. Len approached Neal to check the wound. It was very hot to touch. Definitely infected, he thought. ' just hope he can go through with what we planned.'

Looking back at Raees , Len ordered " clean him up and then we can get to the bank."

"Bank? What bank? " Neal asked confused.

"We are going to Midtown Mutual and we are going to rob it." Len said it as if he was talking about the weather.

Neal laughed though it was more of a grimace " you guys really are more stupid than you seem like it." That earned him a punch in the gut by the muscle man. But he continued in his raspy voice " I can't even move let alone walk" he paused to control his breathing, the fever was making it difficult to do anything. " and you think I will go in there and help you rob the bank." He started to shake his head but thought better of it and just said " not possible."

Raees was getting irritated with Neal more and more so Len interrupted before Raees could do anything and said "Neal, we know your position, so you really don't have to do anything..infact all you have to do is be there and pass out a message to your friend Peter."

Neal's eyes shone brightly at the thought of Peter. Was it only yesterday or how much time had passed since he and Peter were joking with each other at the bureau. Now he wished that he had taken Peter's offer and ridden home with him, then he wouldn't have been in this mess. Last time they made him read out to Peter , it was bad so now he dreaded sending anymore messages.

"What message " Neal asked skeptically.

"First things first, now come on, let's get you all presentable, pretty face." Raees winked and Neal's stomach churned. Raees took hold of his hand and stood him up. Neal was suddenly hit by a strong wave of dizziness and spasm of pain and he unwillingly sagged into Raaes.

************************************.

Neal was now sitting in the black Mercedes again. Raees had cleaned him up much to his disgust and had given him the injection of painkillers again. His fever had increased but his kidnappers didn't do anything about it. He could feel warm stickiness near his shoulder wound, blood had started trickling again. He was wearing his black suit jacket on again so it was nearly impossible to see the blood.

The blood on his forehead was cleaned leaving a gash there which Len had decided to cover up with his fedora. They reached the bank after they spent considerable time on the roads. Neal was feeling worse with each passing moment, he finally spoke " I.. I really don't think... I.. I can do this."

Raees turned around to face Neal who was seated in the backseat with Len. " you're a conman right? It's what you do, con people.. So you just have to do what you do best, pretty face."

Len gave a sharp glare at Raees who huffed and turned front. He then turned to Neal and said " I know you can do this, and I really don't want to remind you but if you don't do this then you must know that after this, I'm headed straight to Peter, and when I kill him , he won't even know what happened." He voice was passive but it sent a chill down Neal's spine. The man had just threatened him of killing Peter.

Neal closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath and opened his eyes to look at Len " please can I have some water first, please." He knew he was begging but he was god damn thirsty. Len complied and handed him a bottle of water. Neal gulped down the water hungrily and spluttered. He was overcome with nausea and without warning he emptied the water he had just drank on the car floor. His vision swam. He closed his eyes and got some of his bearings back.

"Go slow there Neal." Len said with concern. Neal just glared at him.

"One more thing . Please please just tell me where is Mozzie, please." Neal pleaded again but he was so very worried about his eccentric friend.

Len threw a glance at Raees before answering " he's safe for now. You just worry about getting the message delivered to Peter , okay! "

"How do I know you are telling me the truth?"

"you don't."

Neal nodded and got out of the car and swayed. Len and Raaes quickly were beside him incase he face planted on the floor involuntarily.

************************.

Peter Burke was swimming in nightmares. He had been sitting on the couch and going through everything in his mind that could give him one, at least one clue where his friend might be. He didn't even realise that he had fallen asleep on there in the same sitting position with his head thrown back on the head of the couch. El had come downstairs to check up on him but seeing him finally getting some sleep she didn't have the heart to wake him up and take him upstairs to their bedroom. So she just sighed and went back upstairs.

Peter still had his cell clutched in his hand even though he was asleep. He had kept his phone close to him just in case his friend gave a call to him. He was mercifully dragged back to the living world away from those nightmares involving his friend as his cell began ringing, it's noise like a bomb exploding in the calm of the night.

Peter groaned and rubbed his face with his other hand to will the sleep away. After a few seconds he found out the source of his awakening. His cell was ringing. Without looking at the number he spoke

"Burke.."

"Boss, you better come at the bureau, now! " the way Diana said it left no doubt in Peter's mind that he had to comply but still automatically his eyes went to his wristwatch and groaned again.

"Diana, you do know that it's only 6 in the morning, right? Or wait! You found something on Neal?" Peter couldn't help but ask.

"I will see you in 20 minutes, boss." Diana replied and the call was disconnected.

Peter rubbed his eyes and stood up and went upstairs to get ready and then left for the bureau.

***********************.

Peter entered the white collar division on the 21st floor. As soon as he entered the bullpen, he knew something was wrong. The entire office was buzzing in excitement. He made his way towards the conference room and saw that his entire team was already there with grim look on their faces. His heart sped up and he knew this had to be related to Neal. He just knew it. He entered the conference room and asked calmly.

"What? What is it ? "

Jones answered him " Midtown Mutual was robbed today early morning Peter."

"We found this at the reception counter." Diana spoke producing a piece of paper.

Peter reluctantly took the paper from his probie and read it

'If I were you.. I'd check out the CCTV footage Peter.'

Peter went suddenly cold. His heart was racing faster than ever. He had recognised the handwriting. He could have recognised it anywhere in the world. It definitely belonged to his friend, Neal. By the looks of his team , they knew it too.

Steeling himself Peter asked, " you got the footage?" Jones nodded grimly. "And?"

"We thought you'd like to see it first. It's ready to play when you say, boss." Diana replied.

Peter nodded and Diana started the footage. Neal's face lit up the whole screen and in the background was the bank's vault. Neal's face was slightly obscured by his fedora. Immense relief washed over Peter seeing his friend after almost thirty plus hours. He was alive and from the video he looked relatively unharmed.

Neal smiled his famous charming smile though Peter thought it did not reach to his eyes. And then Neal spoke...

"Peter..." He drawled out. " this is so easy.." Darting his eyes around the vault, indicating Peter that robbing the bank was easy. Peter rolled his eyes . Neal continued " even Jimmy Burger could have done it like a piece of cake." The video went blank.

Peter shook his head and smiled in relief at his friend's words even as dread pooled at the pit of his stomach..


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again a million million thanks to all those who are reading reviewing favouriting and following this story. You guys just rock :-)**

*************.

'Peter.. This is so easy.. Even Jimmy Burger could do it like a piece of cake.' Neal spoke to into the CCTV footage and then the video had gone blank.

Peter shook his head and his first reaction was to smile in relief. But then dread was pooling at the pit of his stomach. But he kept his smile intact. Every agent that was present there thought that Peter had finally lost it. Neal was out there robbing banks and here Peter was smiling. Hughes too was confused. He couldn't help but ask raising his eyebrow

"Peter.. Care to share this inner joke that you are smiling at."

Peter shook his head and his smile widened " Reese ..Neal didn't run. He didn't run. I knew it!" The kid hadn't let him down. And Peter's heart warmed at that thought.

"But Peter.. He's clearly at the bank and has robbed all of the money and he's admitting to the crime too. It's crystal clear."

"Yeah..yeah Reese the money might definitely be gone, but Neal didn't do it. At least not voluntarily." Peter said confidently.

"How can you be so sure, Peter?" Demanded Hughes.

"First of all, Neal doesn't like publicity . He would never show himself up if he has committed a crime. Even we couldn't get him on all the crimes, right Reese?"

Diana chimed in " yes sir.. If one of the things Neal is good at, then it definitely is not getting caught."

Jones raised his hand indicating that he too agreed to Peter and Diana " Caffrey does know how do to his job."

"Yes everybody but still there doesn't seem to be any foul play." Hughes replied thoughtfully looking at the blank screen.

"There definitely is a foul play here Reese. Neal said in the footage that it was easy, even Jimmy Burger could do it." Hughes nodded and urged Peter to continue.

"You see Reese , when Neal was captured in the Howser clinic, he had sent me a fax regarding the case and he had written Jimmy Burger as his signature. After that I knew he was in danger." Peter looked outright distraught as he spoke again

"Neal here too is telling us that he didn't run willingly. Reese he's innocent in this. He didn't run... I knew it.. I knew it from the start that he just couldn't flee like that, not after all the things we have been together."

Hughes nodded in agreement to what Peter just clarified and took a deep breath and said " so with that being confirmed that Neal didn't run..it only suggests that he is in some kind of danger. Whoever robbed the bank has taken him against his will."

Peter's smile vanished as he spoke twinge of pain in his heart " yes Reese.. He definitely is in danger and we have to find him quickly."

"Well.. For starters, go to the bank and find out all the details you can. Maybe we can get a clue as to who has Neal against his will."

Peter nodded, " yeah.. That's exactly where we are heading."

Before Peter could leave the room , Hughes stopped him "Peter.."

"Yeah"

"Good luck finding him." Hughes wished him with compassion. Deep down he had known too that Neal hadn't made a break for it.

"Yeah...yeah" Peter couldn't say much. He just wanted his friend back. He promised to himself when he found the kid he will not let him out of his sight even for a second.

**********************.

The FBI team headed by Peter Burke was there at the Midtown Mutual. They did an thorough investigation of the bank. But they could come up with nothing. Nothing except fingerprints at places here and there in the bank. But with loads of people coming and going in and out of the bank plus the staff, Peter knew this was going to be a difficult task. The CCTV camera in the vault was broken. At least they had been able to see the footage. Maybe after Neal gave his msg they decided to crash it so whoever was with Neal wouldn't be seen on the footage. He was utterly disappointed that he couldn't find anything else that could suggest that Neal had left him any other clue. He had been so certain that he would find something in the bank.

He ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrating sigh. He turned to his team and said "there's nothing here other than the fact that 250 million dollars are missing and Neal's footage which we already saw. Nothing except for the broken camera."

"Yes boss.. The bank was robbed very meticulously. No alarms were tripped. They seem to be disabled. This seems like either an inside guy is involved or the culprit did his homework very well."

Peter nodded " I want everything related to Neal checked again. Everything..his files his friends his enemies, hell..even the ones we took out as team. Also check around and ask if anybody saw anything at the time the bank was being robbed. Also check with the bank staff and the gaurds too."

"Yes boss" Diana said. She could clearly see the worry on Peter's face. She knew Peter and Neal weren't just any other handler CI team. Even though Peter didn't like to express his emotions freely, he definitely couldn't hide them when it came to Neal. She knew Peter considered Neal as his friend, best friend even. No.. Not only best friend, Peter considered his CI as his kid and always thought that it was his responsibility to set him straight, keep him safe and do whatever a parent should do to their kids. She shook herself out of these thoughts. They had to find Neal. And if truth be told she wanted to see that annoyingly charming Peter's CI again too.

All the agents took their leave to get on with the work their boss had given them leaving Peter standing there in front of the bank alone. He scrubbed his face with both his hands and let out a deep breath of air.

"Where are you Neal?" He asked to no one.

****************************.

Neal Caffrey was back in 'his' room again and back in that stupid chair. His wrists were again tied behind his back which were now more torn and bloody. His head was also pounding mercilessly so he had kept his eyes closed. His shoulder wound had reopened leaving the trail of blood that was oozing continuously. His fever had increased too. He felt like he was burning from outside yet inside he was shivering feeling cold to the core. He knew the infection was getting worse and worse and this made him feel real scared. Scared that Peter will not find him in time.

He also had a bloody nose. His lips were bleeding from the cut too not to mention the excruciating pain he felt in his abdomen and chest. He knew he definitely had a couple of broken ribs. His back was hurting too. He knew if he looked at himself in the mirror then he would see colourful front and back because of the bruising. He thought that it really was by some miracle that he was conscious and breathing even though it was painful to take each breath. Yup definitely his ribs were broken. His thoughts went to yesterday nights events which lead to his new injuries.

***************.

Leaonard Miller and his henchman Raees , or was it the other way round? Neal decided not to dwell much in this case, had decided to stay close to Neal as he was swaying more than they wanted. Both had shared a look telling each other silently that Neal might actually not able to give a message to Peter.

Neal thought they would have to break in to the bank but he was very wrong. They in Neal's opinion had literally waltzed into the bank. It definitely pays to keep the right people happy. Len and Raees knew the codes and how to disable alarms so they didn't get into trouble for that. They also knew about the blind spots and had easily evaded the cameras. Neal thought that they must have been doing their research for months before actually coming in the bank tonight. Once they were at the reception counter, Raees turned his face to Neal and handed him a piece of paper and a pen and asked him to write as he said.

Neal took the pen and paper and placed the paper on the counter and waited for Raees

Raees said "if I were you... I'd check out the CCTV footage Peter."

Neal steadied himself and clutched his right hand with his left to stop the shaking and wrote down as instructed.

The paper was left were on the counter and the trio went towards the vault. Once they reached the vault, Raees turned to face Neal and said

"This is it, pretty face, remember no mistakes, no sign of weakness, no matter what, you will give the message just as we have written it here, alright."

Len too turned to Neal and ordered "Neal I know you can do it.. But just be sure to read what is in the paper and NOT what you have in mind. I really don't have to repeat myself and tell you what happens if you don't comply."

Neal only nodded, he needed his strength to speak. He took the piece of paper from Len who had taken it out from his pocket. He silently read the contents in his mind

' Peter.. This is so easy.. And I thought you knew me well.. I really thought you would be prepared for me, guess I was wrong.'

Neal stared at the paper for a long time. He decided what he was going to do. He had to give Peter the message that he was indeed in trouble and he hadn't let him down. He never thought that not letting Peter down would be so important. But the truth was he respected Peter a lot and letting him down was not an option.

He darted his eyes from Len to Raees, he knew this was not going to go down well. But he decided it was now or he'd never get the chance to contact Peter again. Mustering all the strength he had he straightened himself and plastered a smile on his face and nodding at both his kidnappers he went inside the vault. He stumbled and swayed a little but he got it under control. His heart was beating fast and his pulse was racing. He took a deep breath and went to stand in front of the camera.

Neal tilted his fedora downwards so that the gash on his forehead was obscured. He stood right in front of the camera and raised his eyes enough to stare at it and took a deep breath and spoke

"Peter.. This is so easy... " he purposely let his eyes roam around the vault and then continued, " even Jimmy Burger could do this like a piece of cake."

Neal released a breath and was about to turn when suddenly a loud noise erupted into the vault and a second later the remaining pieces of the shattered camera were lying on the floor. Even before he could process what happened and how it happened, he was hauled towards Raees as the latter grabbed him by his collar and began shouting

"What did you do..huh?..what did you do?" Raees kept his hold on Neal's collars tightly and kept dragging him backwards until Neal was slammed into the wall and Neal felt his breath leave him. Raees was filled with anger and rage. Neal's eyes widened in fear and cringed.

"I was.." Neal didn't even get the chance to complete his sentence as Raees punched him in the stomach, the impact of which left Neal gasping for breath. He wanted to double over automatically but Raees kept his strong hold. Len darted forward to where Raees had locked Neal in place.

"Stop it Raees.. Stop it." Len tried to pry off Raees' hands from Neal but Raees didn't budge. Infact Raees was seeing red and just wanted to kill Neal right then and there.

"I warned you..didn't I ..pretty face..DIDN'T I?" Len growled in anger. He punched again this time across Neal's face. Blood started trickling down from his nose as pain exploded on his face and Neal saw stars.

Len tried again "Raees just stop please.. Maybe what he said didn't mean anything." Len knew deep down that the kid had definitely sent some hint to Peter but he couldn't let Raees torture him like that.

Raees laughed coldly " what? You think I'm an idiot, Lenny.. " he turned back to Neal who was really struggling to even stand. And he actually was standing because Raees was holding him.

"What message did you convey Peter ..tell me NOW!" He ordered.

"I swear ... I didn't send..any message.. " Neal lied easily. His breathing was shallow. "I was just ...reminding P..Peter about a criminal who got caught... While robbing...another bank..because of his stupidity." He quickly improvised. He was a conman, if he could con anybody then certainly he could con Raees too but apparently he was wrong.

"You know what I think, pretty face?" Raees' voice was so calm just like calm before the storm. "I think you are bluffing." He looked at Len and then back at Neal and said " and now you are going to pay." He balled up his hand into a fist and smacked hard Neal across his face again and he let go of the hold on him. Neal crumpled to the floor in a heap. He then kicked him repeatedly even as Neal curled up in to a ball to avoid it. He didn't stop even when Neal screamed in agony.

Len was horrified to see the sight. He came close to Raees and pleaded " stop it Raees, just stop it."

Raees shouted on top of his lungs " YOU SHUT UP ..JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Len raised his voice enough for Raees to hear.."he's stopped moving, Raees, just stop it.. We want him alive , right!"

Raees finally controlled his anger and stopped. He looked at the unconscious guy with extreme loathe and then turned away to face Len " what are we going to do now?" He asked wiping the sweat away from his face with his hands.

Len looked down at the unconscious conman and sighed in relief coz he could just make out the rise and fall of his back, which meant he was alive and breathing.

"We can't retrieve the tape now, we don't have enough time. We will just have to let it be."

Raees growled "I don't like it.. I just don't like it." He kicked the inert form of Neal again.

Len thought about a way to get out of this mess. He had to come up with some idea or else Neal wouldn't survive the wrath of Raees. He then said thinking

"I will go visit Peter tomorrow and find out if he received any message from him." Len suggested to Raees while still looking at Neal. "I'm sure Peter will let me know if he did get one."

Raees seemed to be lost in thought. After a moment he answered "yeah ..okay.. We will decide what to do after you meet the agent."

Len then went towards the safe and opened it with ease and took all the money out. He left and came back again with a bag and stuffed all of the money and zipped up the bag and turned to Raees

"Come on now, let's get out of here. The gaurd had given us 20 minutes and it's way past that time."

Raees nodded and hauled unconscious Neal over his shoulder and left the vault with Len in the lead.

***********************.

Neal had regained consciousness a few hours before but nobody had come in so far to check on him. He wondered for a moment that maybe he was completely alone. Yeah like that would ever happen, he thought. Neal now sat there on the chair thinking about whether Peter had got his message. Of course Peter would have seen the footage by now. He must now come to know that Neal didn't run, didn't let him down. But then he felt utterly defeated. Even if Peter knew by now that he hadn't run, he really still wouldn't know who had kidnapped him. He felt like an idiot not to straight away mention Len's name in the footage. Maybe he wasn't thinking straight.

But since his ordeal has started, Neal has been confused as ever. He still didn't know why Len who was Peter's friend had taken him. Why suddenly Len was acting sometimes like he actually cared. Who wanted him dead. Why did they want Peter to think that it was him who had ran and he was totally responsible for that. Why did they want him to be present at the bank when they definitely didn't need him. Maybe they just wanted him as their front man. But then now that they had the money, why not let him go or better yet, why didn't they kill him?

He was so tired of all this, he actually wished that they would just kill him. But then he thought of Peter. What would he think ? How would he feel? Would he think that Neal didn't trust him anymore, didn't think that he would find him, find him like he always did. How can he let Peter live in guilt his entire life thinking that Neal hadn't trusted him enough. That Neal had given up on him because he was late. NO! Neal thought firmly, no he wouldn't succumb to death yet, he will wait for Peter.

With all these thoughts swirling in his mind, Neal felt his headache getting worse. He was feeling more lightheaded. He was damn thirsty, his mouth was so dry that it was painful to swallow his own spit. He was hungry yet the thought of food made his stomach churn. He tried to relax and finally gave in to the ever pull of the darkness.

*************.

Peter Burke was back in his office and was going through the CCTV footage again in the hope of finding anything else that could give him some clue about Neal when Diana came knocking at the door. He looked up and gestured her to enter. Diana took her seat opposite of Peter and gave him a file and Peter took it raising his eyebrow silently asking what was in the file.

Diana smiled and replied "boss we actually might have a clue in Neal's abduction."

Peter's eyes widened at what Diana said and he asked impatiently " what is it Diana, what have you got?"

Diana flicked her eyes to the report file that was resting in Peter's hands and answered "Boss, this is a written report of the retail shop owner Mr. Jensen Scofield, whose shop is two blocks away from the Midtown Mutual. He has written in the report that yesterday he was had a busy day so he had worked alone in his shop till early morning."

Peter nodded and urged Diana to continue. His eyes were filled with hope.

"Well..according to him he saw two people leave the bank early morning around 5:30 and was surprised because the bank is generally closed during that time. It was still dark so he couldn't make out their faces but he definitely noticed that one of them was carrying a bag, most probably the bank money was in it and the bulkier of the man was carrying something or someone on his shoulder..and that made him suspicious about everything."

"Neal.." Peter said automatically as fear welled up in his chest. Was Neal hurt?

"Well ..like he said, boss, it was still dark so he couldn't be entirely sure. But the good news is that he saw the vehicle in which they fled. After that he called in the reinforcements."

Peter nodded again, keeping his worry about Neal away for now and going into FBI agent mode. He asked " did he say which or what vehicle was it?"

"Actually yes boss, he said it was a black mercedes , a sedan , but couldn't say more." Diana said disappointedly. She knew her boss wouldn't be happy with this information.

Peter nodded tightly again and said "well..it's a start, Diana.. Check on the computer... Check out each and every black mercedes sedan in the city. I want to know about everybody that owns one, got it?"

"Got it, boss.." She was already out of the chair and heading towards her desk. Peter stopped her..

"Diana.. Please get the results ASAP!"

"Yes boss, I know." She left.

*************.

Peter threw the fifth broken pencil in the waste bin and growled in frustration. Diana had yet to get the results on the car owners. The CCTV footage hadn't shown anything that could tell him anything that he didn't already know. His scrubbed his face to will away the tiredness and worry. But his mind constantly went to only one thought. One of the two people was carrying something or someone on his shoulder. He kept thinking that it was Neal. But why carry him? Why didn't he walk like the other two. That only meant one thing, Neal was physically not able to walk and that also meant he was hurt! Peter felt his heart clench with worry.

He picked up his phone and dialed home and relaxed a bit on hearing his wife's beautiful voice.

"Hey hon.. "

"Hey hon.." Peter couldn't help but smile. El definitely had a soothing touch.

"Peter, honey..you alright?.. Any news on Neal?"

"Umm..yeah..yeah..El.. We think we may finally have some lead in the case." He suddenly felt so tired. He just wanted to go home and sit on the couch with his atms wrapped around El and relax. But he knew that was not possible. Even if he tried to do that he would never relax knowing that his friend was in danger.

"That's good news honey.. I'm sure you will find him.. I just know it."

"Yeah El..but would that be in time?" Peter couldn't help but ask.

"Of course hon..you will find him and that too in time." She paused thinking.. "Unless you aren't telling me everything Peter."

"He might be hurt El.." Just saying that hurt Peter more than he could think of.

"Peter..honey.. He's Neal..nothing will happen to him.. Please don't be disheartened already. Please." She pleaded.

"Yeah..yeah..El...listen I gotta go now .. Talk to you at home.. See you.. Love you."

"Love you too honey.. Join me for lunch?" El asked doubtfully.

"Yeah.. Lunch is fine.. See you at our favourite place. "

"Yeah.." El ended the call. Peter's thoughts went back to Neal again and his worry was increasing more and more.

He was still engrossed in his worry when his cellphone rang. He stared at the number but it read as unknown number. He continued to stare at it confused. Who might it be, he thought. Was it Neal? Heart thumping rapidly he swiped the answer button and said with baited breath

"Special agent Peter Burke.."

"Real low...Suit..real low.." An angry voice shouted on the phone.


	7. Chapter 7

**No matter how many times I say, I know it's not enough but still, thanks so much for reading reviewing favouriting and following this story :-)**

******************.

Peter Burke answered the unknown number and waited for the reply on the other side with bated breath

"Special agent Peter Burke..."

"Real low Suit..real low." An angry voice replied.

To say that Peter was flabbergasted was the least. Out of all the people calling him, he never had even imagined he would get a call from Mozzie. His surprise quickly turned into confusion as the angry tone in the eccentric man's voice dawned on him.

"Mozzie..why are you so angry and where in the hell are you.." Peter demanded.

"Nice try..Suit..very nice try but I'm not going to give my location.." Mozzie paused and then added hastily " and so you know this phone is untraceable."

"Oh come on, Mozzie, what I meant was where have you been? El's been trying to reach you since two days." Peter was getting annoyed with Mozzie.

"Um.. Yeah..someone sent someone on this some mission which was of top priority..." Mozzie rambled but Peter cut him off.

"Oh shut up Mozzie.. Where exactly were you?"

Mozzie took a deep breath and conceded "I was made Suit, I was sent on some wild goose chase." but then Mozzie continued accusingly, " and when I return what do I see?..you've made all the arrangements for my arrest."

"What? Your arrest? Why would I want to arrest you?"

"Really Suit..you want me to answer that?"

"Okay..okay.." Peter gave up arguing with Mozzie , " at least tell me what are you talking about?"

"Why are there a bunch of suits at Neal's place?" Mozzie asked in return.

"You are at Neal's place right now?"

"Uh..ah..not telling you about my whereabouts Suit." replied Mozzie smugly.

Peter was annoyed beyond anything "Mozzie I really don't have time for this.. Neal's life's in danger here."

Mozzie was confused " Neal's life? Isn't he with you?"

"No Mozzie, he's been missing for two days now. El's been trying to get to you ever since."

Mozzie was quiet for a long time and Peter actually thought that the connection was cut but Mozzie's voice came through

"All right , Peter, tell me everything. But the first thing you need to know is that he didn't run, okay."

"Yeah I know,Mozzie." Peter knew then that Mozzie was really worried for his friend. His voice was calm but Peter could easily hear the unsaid worry in it. Plus, Mozzie had called him Peter! Yup, definitely he was worried.

*******************.

Peter had explained everything to Mozzie about Neal's kidnapping. He also said that the Feds were stationed at Neal's place to look out for any suspicious activity and also in the hope that Neal might make an appearance and they would get to him first rather than the bad guys. The little guy was worried beyond doubt that his friend might be in the hands of their past or present enemies. Peter had soothed him somewhat by telling him that he had seen the footage of Neal from last night and that he looked okay and that meant whoever had Neal hadn't harmed him. Yet.

Mozzie had relaxed only a bit because the butterflies in his stomach were telling him otherwise. He promised Peter that he will look into it and check out if anybody from Neal's past had anything to do with his friend's kidnapping. Peter was relieved to know that because if anybody could gets the results quickly it was definitely Mozzie. He knew Mozzie would go to any limits to find out about Neal. The street contacts Mozzie had were far more efficient than the FBI.

Peter had asked Mozzie about who had sent him in his so called wild goose chase and Mozzie had replied that he couldn't let that person's name out but he was definitely going to have a long talk with him. Finally Mozzie choked out in the end " Suit, you better find Neal fast. He always says if anyone can find him then it's you. So please prove him correct this time too."

"Yes Mozzie.. I will find him, I promise you that and in time too." Peter's voice was heavy with emotion too.

"I will call you as soon as I get some news." Mozzie said and then added " this number will be available Suit, in case you want to talk to me."

Peter smiled even though he knew Mozzie couldn't see him," Yeah Mozzie, I will call you as soon as I get something." He then clicked the phone shut and rubbed his hand over his face. He was sure now things will be better. They had actually gotten a lead and Mozzie was there too. Yes, he would find Neal soon. "Hang in there kid, I will find you, just like I always do." He said even though nobody was there to listen him.

*******************.

Peter had gotten off his phone with Mozzie an hour ago and had received a call from Jones giving him another good news that the security guard at the Midtown Mutual Bank was apprehended and was ready to sing. So he sat there in his office waiting for Jones to bring in the guard. Agent Diana berrigan peeked into his office and said

"Boss, Mr. Leonard Miller is here to see you."

Peter looked up from the file he was reading and nodded at her and replied "Yeah sure , bring him in."

Len entered Peter's office and both friends greeted each other and took their respective seats. Peter was first to speak, "Len, good to see you. I'm so sorry that our reunion isn't going well, I mean I really wanted to spend time with you but.."

Len interrupted Peter saying, " No worries Peter, I totally understand what's going on here. From the look of you I can easily say that you didn't find your CI yet , right?"

Peter sighed, " Yes Len, we really are in the dark here as to who has taken him."

"Wait..so you think he didn't run? Do you have any sort of proof that he was taken?" Len probed Peter. He knew Peter had told him at lunch that he didn't think Neal ran but still he asked wanting to know what information did they have on the kid.

"Of course Len, I knew from the start that he didn't just run and left like that. I already told you that right. He has a life here, Len, he definitely would not leave like this.

"But what about the evidence Peter? And after all he is a criminal right?"

Peter screwed up his face and answered, "He was a criminal Len. He isn't a criminal anymore. He really is a good man with a good heart, just that he didn't walk on the right side of the road and made some bad decisions. But Len, Neal is really a good kid." Len nodded but before he could say anything else, Peter spoke up again " What evidence were you talking about Len?"

Len replied confidently, "There was no other foul play in his house, right? Only thing out of place was the dog Bugsy, right.." He continued without thinking, " only he could have done that right? I mean he's a conman right, he could have gotten hold of the key to his tracker and he only must have drugged the dog right? He only must have put the tracker around the dog's neck, right?"

Peter shook his head as he answered, " No Len..Neal didn't do all that.. He was taken and we have a proof here. " He indicated towards his laptop.

"What proof do you have Peter?" Len urged.

"Actually..it's a video footage from a CCTV camera,Len.. He has clearly said that he didn't run voluntarily."

Len faltered but steadied himself before Peter could see that and said, " Oh that's good news Peter. I'm sure you will find him." He plastered a fake smile on his face.

Peter smiled a genuine smile, " Yes Len.. I'm confident that I will find him , I will."

"Well.. I mustn't waste anymore of your precious time,Peter.. I better get going." Len stood up from the seat in which he was sitting. Peter followed the same.

Peter shook hands with his friend,"I will get in touch with you soon, Len. You will be still in town right?" He enquired.

"Yeah ofcourse Peter, I think I will be staying here for a few more days. So maybe after you find that CI of yours, we can catch up."

"Yes..yes ofcourse, after I find Neal, we can catch up, I am sure you will like him after you get to know him better."

"Oh I would like that, after all you seem to think highly of him. .. Okay then give me call when all this is over, okay."

"Yes definitely."

****************.

Len walked out of the FBI building worried. He had to tell Raees now that Neal had indeed delivered a message to Peter and Peter was going to figure it out very soon. He just hoped Raees wouldn't take out his anger on Neal again. When at the bureau Len had considered telling Peter everything, infact he had considered telling his friend since all this mess started but he just couldn't do it. He just couldn't risk it. His life was on stake here and he couldn't afford to make a single mistake. Shaking his head, pulling his jacket more close to his body as if it could protect him, he waited for a cab. He had to talk to Raees.

******************.

Jones poked his head in Peter's office and said, "Boss, the guard is here. He's waiting for you in the interrogation room."

Peter nodded and walked out of his office to meet the guard. He really was very nervous about this. If the guard answered correctly then he might get a big lead as to where Neal was. He took deep breath and entered the room and sat opposite of the guard.

He looked at the file on the table in front of him and asked, "You are Jason Wells and you work at the Midtown Mutual as the security guard?"

Jason Wells looked around the small room, he was clearly nervous about being here and Peter could tell that this was his first time. He knew if he went about this the right way then he would get all the information he needed.

Jason finally met Peter's eyes and nodded but didn't speak. Peter sighed and spoke again, "Look Wells.. I know you are scared and I can understand. I can see that this is your first time but if you don't speak you are going to face prison as an accomplice in this robbery and I can guarantee you that it's the last place you would want to be. "

Jason raised his eyebrows and asked, "So if I speak , no jail time?"

Peter shook his head, " No Wells, jail time is definitely in your future, but if you help us here, I promise you that you will be there for a minimum time."

Jason nodded somewhat relieved but still asked to confirm what the agent had said, "Do I have your word, agent Burke?"

Peter nodded, "Yes you have my word and I keep my word."

Jason nodded,"I can't tell you much agent. I didn't even see his face. He just gave me the money and I made it easy for them to rob the bank."

"His face? You mean there was only one person?"

"Yes..only one who came to me. His face was covered except for his eyes. He had a brilliant shade of green. " Jason answered thinking.

"Okay..anything else you can remember about him..anything at all?"

"Um..no except that he had green eyes and yes he was about 6ft 4inch tall." Jason concluded.

Suddenly out of the blue, Peter was reminded of Leonard Miller who also happened to be 6ft 4inch tall and had green eyes. He was then struck by another thought, their talk an hour or so ago. Peter's face screwed in confusion. Then it dawned on him that he never had discussed the case of Neal with him in such details. Then how in the world did his friend know that Neal had drugged the dog. Not only that how did he know that the dog's name was Bugsy. And that Neal's tracker was wrapped around Bugsy' neck.

Peter suddenly shot up from his seat and darted out of the room leaving the utterly bewildered guard sitting there and told Jones to take Jason Wells in. His head was spinning like a top by the time he reached his office. So many thoughts were swirling in his mind. Leonard Miller, his friend had suddenly come out of the blue to see him after all these years. He didn't even know Neal, then why would he kidnap him? Was he wrong? Was he doubting his friend unnecessarily?

Len had never even hinted that he might be responsible for Neal's kidnapping. Yes, if he thought more, he remembered that his friend was acting pretty nervous when he had come over for lunch. Peter felt sick at all these thoughts. Was it possible that Len was really holding Neal and then he came to Peter acting like he actually cared and was worried about him. No! It couldn't be possible, could it?

Just when Peter thought that he would finally loose it and his head would blast, he was saved by his fellow agent Diana Barrigan.

"Boss.." She hesitated. "What? What is it, Diana?" Peter asked massaging his temples with both hands.

"Boss.. We ran search through our computers to find out how many black mercedes sedans were here in the city. We found there were more than many but one person who owns the mercedes caught our attention. But it also might not mean anything, boss."

"Yeah okay.. so who's the owner?" Peter asked nodding.

"Boss, his name is Leonard Miller." Diana answered and Peter felt like a bomb had dropped on him.

He asked, " You sure about it? I mean he's not even from this city."

"Yes boss, we checked thoroughly. Mr. Miller had purchased a black mercedes sedan C class 300 only a fifteen days before."

Peter felt like his world came crashing down on him. How can his friend do this to him and why? He prayed to god that he be wrong in this, that his friend was innocent. His gut feeling was telling him that Leonard Miller was lying all this time. But there was only one way to find that out. He looked Diana into her eyes and spoke resolutely,

"You have the address where Leonard Miller lives here?"

Diana nodded and put a file down on the table in front of Peter and said, " Yes boss, it's here."

"Come on , let's go." Peter was already walking out of the office.

****************.

Neal was still in the world of dead when Raees came barging into his room. Len had come back from the bureau and notified Raees that Peter had indeed received a message from Neal through the CCTV footage. Raees was enraged at the news but Len pacified him somewhat and then Raees had decided against torturing Neal for the moment. He had then called the man who was in charge of all this and had gotten his next instructions.

So now here he was in Neal's room standing over the unconscious man. He came closer and cut the ropes digging into his captive's wrists and shook him violently to bring him back. Neal's fevered eyes opened and looked at Raees in confusion. He stuttered softly, "What?..where?"

"Get up pretty face, we have to get moving, come on." He hauled Neal up on his feet but the latter was too weak to stand and his legs gave away. Raees didn't show any mercy on him and let him fall on the ground. He shook his head and was disgusted, " Come on ..get up." His voice was cold and emotionless.

Neal who was barely conscious tried to process what Raees had asked him to do. He faintly understood that the muscle man was asking him to get up. He tried but failed miserably as his whole body shook from pain and he choked out, " I.. I can't.." Hot tears of humiliation and pain were streaming down his face but he just couldn't get up.

Raees watched him with growing loathe and sneered, "What? You can't even stand , pretty face! You are just pathetic. Why are you even breathing." He bent down and grabbed Neal's arms roughly and put him on his shoulder and left the room to meet Len who was waiting for them downstairs. Neal moaned in pain but Raees took no notice.

Len on seeing Neal on Raees' shoulder asked in concern, "Is he okay?"

Raees huffed and spoke coldly, " Yeah he's breathing for now and is barely conscious." He then made his way out of the house and towards the mercedes. He then dropped Neal down sitting him against the car door and turned to Len and said, " I forgot the car keys, go get it, they are on the coffee table."

Len nodded and went inside with a ray of hope in his heart that finally they were leaving this place and finally he would get to meet the one person who meant everything to him. He reached the coffee table and was confused when he didn't see any keys. He turned around to ask Raees about them but instead he found Raees right there in front of him with an evil smirk on his face.

"Oh.. Raees, I was coming to you. The keys aren't here."

Raees pulled out the keys from his pocket and dangled them in front of Len, "I know."

Len was confused even more and before he could ask or do anything, Raees removed his gun from his pocket and whipped it hard on Len's head and Len crumpled to the floor unconscious.

**************.

Neal sat down in against the car door with his legs stretched out in front of him. The cool outer air had refreshed him a little and he was now more aware of his surroundings. He noticed that he was alone. He saw the opportunity to run. If he could just run away from here and maybe get to a pay phone, he could call Peter. He knew that once he got to Peter , he would definitely come to him. His fevered mind and body didn't dwell much on the idea of actually having some money to call Peter. He just had only one thing in mind. Call Peter.

Neal pulled his knees up and used his left hand to press against the car for the much needed support and tried to put his weight on his left leg first, his leg buckled and he flopped back down. He tried again and was able to put his weight on his legs and was able to stand, all of his weight supported by the car that he was leaning against. He panted, breathing was hurting him. He pushed himself up and wobbled but he managed to stay put.

He then looked around deciding which way to go. He couldn't make out the area in which he was, it didn't matter, he just wanted to get the hell out of here. He started stumbling slowly away from the car towards his freedom and had taken a few steps when the loud and clear voice of Raees stopped him.

"You never learn, do you, pretty face?" Raees once again had his gun aimed at Neal's back.

Neal turned back at Raees and saw the gun in Raees' hand and raised his hands in surrender. He really didn't want to get shot again. Raees came up to him and pocketed his gun and turned Neal roughly around and tied a piece of rope which he had pulled out of his pocket tightly on his wrist. Neal whimpered. " Now come on." He dragged Neal towards the car. He kept his his hold on Neal with one hand and used his other hand to unlock the car. He then pushed Neal into the backseat and then removed the injection filled with the sedative.

Neal's eyes widened at that and he started struggling fruitlessly and Raees just came forward and inserted the needle in his arm easily. The ever familiar feeling of dizziness engulfed Neal and he was out even before he knew it.

Raees then banged the door shut and got into the driver's seat and drove off to his destination.

***************.

Somebody was ringing the doorbell repeatedly. Leonard Miller was lying on the floor and was just recovering from the blow he had received to his head when he heard his doorbell ring again and again. He slowly got to his feet and rubbed his sour spot and walked towards the door and opened it. His eyes shot open and his heart thumped loudly and the hair behind his neck rose because the visitor was none other than Special Agent Peter Burke.

Peter looked coldly at Len and spoke, "Hello Leonard.."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again all of you for still managing to enjoy this story :-)**

~~~~~~~~.

Leonard Miller first registered surprise and then fear when he saw his friend and the FBI agent Peter Burke at his door along with his team. He had a monstrous headache because of the hit on his head, thanks to Raees, but on seeing Peter standing there right in front of him , he totally forgot about the headache. All the colour drained out of his body and his heart thumped loudly. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He paled further as Peter spoke coldly

"Hello..Leonard."

Len maintained outward calm and spoke, "Peter.. What a surprise. Didn't know I had given you my address..not that I'm complaining." He chuckled nervously. He looked everywhere but Peter.

Peter followed the same outward calm and asked, "Where is he Leonard?"

Len knew very well about whom his friend was asking but he screwed his face in confusion and spoke, "Who is where, Peter? .. I really don't understand what you are asking me."

Peter took a step forward, his eyes blazing with anger, " I asked you a question Len, where is he?" He knew Len was lying. Years of experience of being an FBI agent helped him in reading people.

Len swallowed hard and took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off the sweat from his face and spoke, " Seriously Peter, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Peter finally lost it and dashed towards Len, grabbed him by his collars and pinned him to the nearest wall. Jones and Diana started to come forward to refrain Peter from his violent act but one look at their boss told them to better stay put. His face was dangerously close to Len's when he spoke gruffly,

"Leonard Miller, you listen to me, and you listen to me carefully because I'm going to ask this only one more time, alright!" Len only nodded his head nervously.

Peter repeated again, " Where is he?"

Len finally complied knowing it was no use pretending anymore, "He was here Peter, but I swear he's not here anymore, I swear! " Peter turned to this team and ordered, " Jones , Diana , check the entire place. Each and every corner." Jones and Diana complied.

Len winced when Peter tightened his hold on him and he gasped out, " Peter, please believe me, he was here, but...but.. Raees took him some place unknown to me. I thought I was supposed to go with them but he clobbered me in the head and I was out cold. I only woke up a few minutes ago. Please believe me, Peter, I'm telling you the truth."

Peter was furious now and he was just barely able to hold himself from strangling Len. Len had just confirmed that he indeed had kidnapped Neal and his friend was here at this place the whole time. He spat out, " Believe you..believe you.." He shook Len roughly by the collars and continued, " Len, you seriously think I'm going to believe you after all this... I trusted you.. I thought you were my friend!"

Len flinched at the tone of his friend. He knew Peter was 100 percent right. He had betrayed his trust but he didn't have any other option. He was helpless. He tried to pacify his friend again.

"Peter, please, I was helpless, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to do this, I swear."

"Where is he now, Len?" He ignored Len's pleading and growled at him.

"I don't know.. I just don't know.. I was supposed to go with them, but Raees.."

"Who's Raees?" Peter asked.

"Raees is the one who does everything..." Peter stopped him and said, "Raees?.. I don't know anybody with that name? Why would he kidnap Neal?"

Len shook his head and winced because his head was still pounding, " No Peter, he's not the one who's the mastermind behind all this, somebody else is there.."

Peter was surprised at this revelation and asked, "Who's behind this, Len? Why did he kidnap Neal?"

Len tried to shake his head again in negative but thought better of it and just answered, " I don't know Peter, I just don't know who's behind all this. Only Raes came to me and he's the only one that I was in touch with."

Peter nodded, seeming to accept what Len said and then questioned, "Why did you do it Len? Why? I thought you were my friend. How can you do something like this to somebody who is so important to me." He finally let go off Len and took a step back but the question remained burning in his eyes.

Len relaxed a little but was still standing against the wall for support when he answered, " Sorry Peter, but I can't tell you. I can't. His life depends on it. And believe me I had no choice." He sagged his shoulders in defeat.

Peter shook his head in disbelief, "Are you serious,Len! Even after all this, you still wanna play games with me! Just tell me, why the hell did you do this!" He yelled.

Len just stood there silent. Peter took a step in his direction and was about to plummel him, because this was about the safety of Neal and Len was not cooperating but stopped when Jones and Diana came back from their search and Diana spoke first, " Boss, there's nothing of much importance that can lead us to Neal except for one room which confirms it was there where Caffrey was held captive."

Jones nodded, " Yes, boss, you might want to check it out." Both Jones and Diana shared a look, knowing Peter would not be happy to see the room.

Peter nodded at them and rushed upstairs behind Diana and Jones followed keeping Len close in case the latter decided to make a run for it.

All four entered the last room in the corridor and Peter suddenly stopped short. This was definitely the place where Neal was. There was nothing in the room except for the chair. Around that chair on the ground were some dark stains. Peter feared that it was dried blood. He neared it and bent down and touched the stain with his finger and his eyes grew wide as he realized that he was right. There was too much blood. 'So sorry, Kid!' Peter thought sadly. He was utterly disappointed, if only he had come here on time.

Diana came forward and placed her hand on his shoulder and said, " We have collected the sample to run tests and confirm whether it's Neal's."

Peter just nodded and turned to Jones and ordered, " take him to the bureau, I will be there to interrogate him." He got up and looked at Len with pure disgust.

Jones nodded and approached Len and turned him around and produced cuffs from his pocket and cuffed him and urged him to follow him to the car.

Peter stopped them and swallowed painfully and choked out, "How bad is he hurt, Len?" Len turned to his friend and conceded, " Peter.." Len hesitated. Peter asked again with more force, " How bad?"

Len spoke softly but Peter heard it clearly, " It's bad Peter, real bad." Peter closed his eyes and his breath hitched. Len felt his heart break for his friend, "I am so sorry Peter." He said sadly.

Peter again ignored his apology and opened his eyes and looked at Jones and said, " Just take him."

Jones nodded feeling sorry for his boss, and truly he too was not happy the way things went , he really hoped that they would find Neal here. He shook himself out of his thoughts and led Len to the car and they were going leaving Diana and Peter standing there in the house.

Peter never felt so dejected, it had been close to 48 hours now, he had really hoped that he would find Neal here. But now he was back to square one. His gut feeling that Len was involved was true but Len didn't know where his friend was now. And to top it, Neal was hurt too. What if he couldn't find him in time.

Sensing his growing worry for his friend, Diana spoke, breaking his thoughts, " Boss, we will find him."

Peter just nodded , not at all convinced and turned around and left.

~~~~~~~~.

Neal slowly regained consciousness and he was hating it more every time he regained it. Everything hurt. His head was blasting. Searing pain in his shoulder and the heat radiating from it told him that it was infected badly. He could also feel a trickle of blood and pus flowing continuously. He could sense the coppery smell of blood and the odor that was coming from his shoulder told him it was pus. His mouth was very dry and each breath he took hurt more intensely because of the beating he took to his abdomen and ribs. His fever had risen too, and that scared him. He kept his eyes closed, he was scared to open them , he thought it would be painful to open them too.

At first he was confused as to where he was. Was he back at the place where he had spent last couple of nights? Or was he taken somewhere else? He knew he had to open his eyes to see where he was but he just didn't want to. He just wanted everything to be a worse nightmare, which if he opened his eyes would be over but the pain in his entire body was reminding him constantly that this was not a dream but real life just that it was worst than any nightmare. He knew if he didn't get help soon, he will not survive. He felt bad, not for himself but for Peter, he knew that his friend would never be the same if he didn't find Neal in time. Yes there was no doubt still in Neal's mind that Peter will find him.

Neal had again succumbed to darkness or so he thought, because he felt someone was shaking him gently. He groaned softly and let out a small gasp as shaking him was making his pain worse. The shaking continued and he knew that he had to open his eyes now or the shaking wouldn't stop. Suddenly he feared that Raees had returned and was planning on inflicting more pain. But then he thought if it was Raees , then he wouldn't have shaken him gently, so he finally gave in and opened his eyes.

Everything was fuzzy at first. His eyes were burning and the lighting in the room was hurting too much but he valiantly kept them open and tried to adjust to the new pain. He then noticed that he was yet again sitting on a chair and his wrists were tied behind. 'Not again!" He groaned. But he also noticed that this was not the room he was accustomed to. High on the wall in front of him was a small window with grills. The moonlight was streaming down through it. He slowly turned his head to the hand which had stopped shaking him but was still placed gently on his left shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

A teenage boy not more than fifteen or sixteen years old was standing there looking at him with so much concern that actually made Neal flinch. He couldn't understand who this boy was and why was he here with him. He was too confused and couldn't understand how to start the conversation but he was saved when the boy spoke first.

"Thank god! Thank god, you finally opened your eyes. I was so worried. You have been in and out of consciousness since the time you were brought here."

"Sorry..for worrying you about that." Neal flashed his charming smile even though it took a lot of courage but he just couldn't scare the kid like this, even though he knew nothing about him, yet.

The kid immediately relaxed but his hand was still on Neal's shoulder. It was as if Neal was the much needed support he had been looking for. Neal noticed it and spoke trying to break the silence,

"My name's Neal..Neal Caffrey.. How about you.. What is your name?"

"I know you're Neal Caffrey.. " the boy said quietly and then continued, " My name is Joe..Joseph Miller."

Neal asked confused, " Miller? "

Joe nodded, " Yeah, Miller. My dad's name is Leonard Miller." He suddenly looked so sad and lost. Neal's heart went out to him.

Neal couldn't help but say bluntly as it suddenly dawned on him, " You are kidnapped too!" Joe nodded. " How long have you been here." Neal finally understood why Len had kidnapped him. His son was held captive and as a father he did what he had to do. He now understood why Len was kind to him sometimes. He really didn't want to do this but was helpless.

Joe shrugged his shoulders and replied, " Don't know.. Lost count of days. The man who has kept me here keeps saying that after you come here and everything goes well, he will let me go. So I really hope that this nightmare is over for me now that you are here."

Neal winced at the tone Joe used. He was talking as if he was nothing but a deal. He was beginning to feel drowsy again and now his breath was coming in short gasps. The little talk he had left him spent. But he had to ask one more thing, one last thing before he was out. So he tried to take a deep breath but it was a mistake as his ribs protested and he felt a sharp pain and coughing. That hurt too. Joe just stood there and stared at him as if he was about to drop dead any minute.

But then he left Neal for a few seconds and returned back with a bottle of water. He uncapped it and raised the bottle to Neal's lips and made him drink in small sips.

Neal's coughs stopped and he was breathing harshly. He waited a few more minutes for the pain to subside and then spoke, his voice raspy,

"Thanks.." Joe just nodded and Neal continued, " Do ..do you know who has kidnapped you?.. I mean did you see his face?"

"No.. I didn't. He always wears a mask and just comes in to give food and water."

Neal nodded and struggled the words out, " We have to get out of here, Joe, we have too." Neal could wait for Peter forever and he knew Peter would find him but he just couldn't let the boy be harmed because of him.

Joe looked at Neal skeptically and asked, " You really think you can even stand let alone running and escaping from here?"

"Relax, you don't know me, I can do anything. Plus I have you." He tried giving him a smile again but failed.

"But why?" Joe asked doubtfully. He really didn't think it would work out.

Neal sighed softly and answered him, " Joe, you really think these guys will leave you? No Joe, we have to try and escape and that's the only option if you want to live longer." His words were coming out in whisper now.

Joe seemed to contemplate what Neal had just told him and then finally after what seemed long time, he nodded, " Okay, we try to get out of here."

Neal managed a smile this time but his eyes were drooping and within seconds he was dead to the world.

Joe sighed and went back to his cot and sat down heavily and kept his eyes on Neal. The guy was in really bad shape, how in the world were they supposed to escape? But deep down he wanted to get out here, he just wanted to go home and be with his dad. He lied down on his back but kept his eyes open and kept his watch on Neal and waited for him to wake up.

~~~~~~~~~.

Peter Burke was back in the bureau, back in the interrogation room and this time it was Leonard Miller who sat in front of him. He had went straight home after taking Len in. He thought that if his friend spent the night at the FBI building, he will be ready to talk in the morning. He had spent a restless night tossing and turning wrapped up in his nightmares about Neal. Even El's soothing words hadn't made any difference.

He was really tired today but he was determined to find out what made his college friend do something so horrible like this. So here he was sitting in the interrogation room with Leonard Miller. Len looked tired too. But Peter was too angry at him and even though he noticed it, he kept it to himself. He took a deep breath and asked,

"Len I really hope you have arrived at some decision here. Look I know you told me that you did this because you didn't have a choice. ." He paused. Len had yet to look up and meet his friend's eyes. Peter was not discouraged, he urged on, " please Len , just tell me why did you do this? I can help you, you know I am an FBI agent, I will do everything in my control to help you, please just trust me."

Len finally looked up to meet his friend's eyes. He saw warmth and concern in them and it compelled him to say everything to Peter. But would it be safe to tell him? He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands and made the decision. He had already made a mistake by not coming to Peter straight away, he wouldn't make another one today.

"Peter.. They.. You know I told you about my son Joe, right?" He asked.

Peter nodded and remained silent and urged Len to continue and Len continued, "They took him Peter, they kidnapped him and I was forced to do as they instructed."

Peter's eyes widened in shock. "What? Your son's been kidnapped too? Len nodded positively. " Why didn't you come to me straight away, Len? I could have helped you in finding him!" anger was creeping up on Peter. Just because his friend had been stupid and had played according to the real kidnappers, his friend Neal was suffering.

Len noted the anger in his friend's tone and became angry too and spoke bitterly, " Come on, Peter, you tell me.. You tell me what was I supposed to do? My son's life was , is in danger. I did what a good father does to protect his child."

Peter shook head in disbelief, " You are crazy Len! Just because you thought that you were saving your son, you put my friend's life at stake! How could you do this? You should have come to me in the first place."

Len spoke defending himself, " I don't regret what I did Peter. Joe is my son! I'd do anything to keep him safe. Don't tell me that if the roles were reversed you wouldn't have done the same thing!"

Peter stared at Len, trying to understand what he had just said. Len spoke again, " Tell me Peter, you consider Neal as your son in many ways, right?" The look in his eyes challenging Peter to deny it. Peter remained silent so Len continued, " Tell me , if his life was in danger just like my Joe's , wouldn't you have done the same thing?"

Peter closed his eyes for a moment before answering Len. He opened them and spoke, " Yes you are right Len , if something like this happened to Neal , I would move heaven and earth to find him and will do everything I can to find him but I wouldn't have stooped so low like you! And I am sure Neal wouldn't have wanted that too." He was extremely disgusted by Len's words.

Len closed his eyes this time and when he opened them they were shining brightly. He knew he had hurt his friend terribly. His voice was thick with emotion when he spoke, " I'm so sorry Peter. Wish I had done things differently."

"Me too! " Peter said.

Any further talk was interrupted by the ringing of Peter's cellphone. He removed it from his pocket and stared at the number. It was unknown. Could Mozzie have come up with something that might lead him to Neal? Praying that it was indeed the case he swiped the call icon on the phone and answered,

"Burke."

The voice however did not belong to Mozzie, " Is this Special agent Peter Burke?"

Peter didn't recognise who the person was but still answered in affirmative, "Yes"

"You don't know me, but Neal Caffrey had given me your number, he had told me to call you in time like this."

"Okay..." Peter paused to give the other person opportunity to talk again because he didn't have a clue as to where this conversation was going.

"You see agent Burke, Neal has kept with me a lifetime of his wealth which is unknown to anyone. He had said that one day he will take it back."

Peter's mind was spinning with this new out of the blue information but he kept mum and listened to the unknown caller.

"But agent Burke, Neal had strictly told me to hand over the wealth to him and only him but he called me one day and said that if anytime anybody comes asking for it then I should straight away call you. Because he said that he would never give up on the wealth willingly and that meant his life might be in danger. He said that you are the only person he trusts. So that's the reason I have called you today."

Peter still couldn't grasp on the sudden turn of events. Neal had a wealth unknown to anybody, he had made sure that if anyone had to know about it, it would be him. He suddenly understood that whoever had Neal now must have contacted this caller and if he got to know who that person was then he could get to Neal.

Peter asked the caller urgently, " Did the person who came to you gave you his name?" he held his breath.

"Yes infact he did. He just called me to get my address and should be here by tomorrow."

Peter's heart thumped wildly. Finally he will get to know who was behind all this. He asked, " Can you please give me his name?"

The name the caller gave him felt like a blow to his gut. He paled. Out of all the people, he never thought that this person would be responsible for the deadly ordeal Neal was going through..


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everybody, I am so sorry that I took long time to post this chapter. Didn't get the time to write it because of the holidays.**

 **A special special thanks to all who are reading reviewing following and favouriting this story :)**

 **I would also like to thank the guests who are reviewing. I cannot send pm to you so wanted to thank you all here :)**

~~~~~~~~.

A few hours before the phone call to Peter..

Joseph Miller woke up with a start. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He had been keeping his watch over Neal. The unconscious youth was no longer drifting in and out of it but remained dead, not even a muscle twitched.

Joe didn't know how long Neal Caffrey was dead to the world but he was beginning to think that it was way beyond what he had hoped for. He was seriously worried about his roommate now so he got out of his cot and approached Neal to try and wake him up. Joe shook him gently first but Neal didn't budge. He then tapped his cheeks and was horrified by the heat coming off from Neal's body. He knew it was because of the fever that Neal was unconscious. He knew that the longer Neal remained comatose, the lesser will be his chance of surviving.

"Come on Neal..wake up, wake up please." He tapped Neal's cheeks again, this time with more force. He still got no response. Joe paled further at this but he didn't give up, no not yet. He knew that Neal was breathing, he could tell that by the slight rise and fall of his chest. He bent down and picked up the bottle of water and uncapped it. He pour a handful on his cupped palm and sprinkled it on Neal. He repeated this again and again, he was finally rewarded when he saw that Neal was beginning to wake up. He sighed in relief and relaxed a little.

~~~~~~~~.

Neal woke up slowly feeling the soothing coolness on his face. He tried to open his burning eyes but it took a lot of effort. He blinked a few times to clear his foggy vision. After his vision was clear, he could make out Joe standing in front of him. He was looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Hey buddy.. " Neal managed to croak out.

"Don't you ever do that again, alright." Joe scolded him gently.

"Do..do what?" Neal asked confused.

"You weren't waking up. I kept trying but you just remained comatose. I thought that you wouldn't wake up after all." He choked on his words.

"Hey.. Won't happen again..okay.." Neal lied easily. He knew his condition wasn't getting any better but seeing the frightened teenager he decided to lie to him, though from the look on Joe's face, he knew that the teen was not buying it.

"You promise that?." Joe asked skeptically raising his eyebrow.

Neal tried to smile, "Yeah..yeah I promise.."

"Yeah right! " Joe rolled his eyes but then decided not to dwell much in the matter. "So.. You told that we had to escape.. Any idea how? "

Neal thanked him mentally because he really didn't wanna discuss on his health right now. He nodded, "Yeah.. About that.. Sorry I nodded off instead of discussing that .."

"Yeah.. I noticed " Joe said sarcastically. "So what do you suggest we do? We can't just open the door, it only opens from the outside. And even if we achieve that somehow, we can't just leave and run. They must be guarding it."

"Yeah.. And the window is not gonna work either." Neal's breath was coming in short gasps now. Joe noticed it and couldn't help but ask, " You sure you can do this? I mean, you are too weak, Neal!"

"Don't worry about me, right now all I can think of is to get away from here and get you some place safe."

"However are we going to achieve that." Joe muttered under his breath.

Neal heard him and spoke, " We can at least try right?"

"Yeah, alright.."

"You see the air vent up there?" Neal asked pointing his finger upwards.

Joe nodded, " Umm..yeah.. But in case your feverish mind didn't register it, it's too high." he said pointedly.

"Yeah.. I saw that but together we can reach the ceiling.. You just climb on top of my shoulders."

"You know you are crazy right?" Joe laughed humourlessly.

"There's no other way.. And trust me when I say we have to get out of here, WE HAVE TO! "

"Yeah..ok" Joe accepted reluctantly.

"So when does this guy, who provides food and water come inside this room?"

"He already came at dinner time, and now he will be here in the morning only. And in a couple of hours the sun's going to rise."

"Okay.. Then we better get started. But first things first..you will have to untie me."

Joe nodded and went behind Neal and crouched down to untie his wrists. A shocked gasp escaped his lips. Neal's wrists were damaged pretty bad. He winced when Neal let out a whimper as he slowly and painfully untied his wrists using his bare hands. Neal slowly brought his hands forward and rolled his shoulders to circulate the blood flow.

Neal slowly got out of the chair and swayed but Joe quickly came forward and grabbed his arm firmly. His confidence in Neal was diminishing fast.

"You sure about this?" Joe asked again.

Neal sighed, this teen sure had trust issues. He straightened himself and gestured Joe to release his hand on him. " I am sure we can do this, okay! Now just take this chair right under the vent." He instructed pointing to the chair. Joe quickly dragged the chair under the vent and Neal stumbled towards him.

"Okay, so now I'm gonna stand up on this chair and then you climb up, alright."

Joe didn't think even for a second that they would be able to achieve what Neal was proposing but he decided not to argue with him. He will see it for himself, he thought. So he just nodded.

"Okay..so you got anything to loosen the screws?" Neal asked.

"Umm..will this do?" Joe fished out a small silver coin. " My lucky charm." He smiled.

"Well, no better day than to use it today, right! ..now come on..let's do this.." Joe nodded.

Neal was struck by a sudden thought. He nodded to himself and spoke, " Joe, um..listen..if at anytime you have to leave me and run, just run okay! Don't worry about me just run!"

Joe looked at Neal like he had grown three heads. " You are crazy! I know I keep saying it, but you just are"

"No..please..if either of us has the chance to escape, he will take it, okay! Okay? That way he can bring help here, you got it?"

Joe understood what Neal was telling so he just nodded.

"If by any chance, it's you who gets out of here, then go straight to FBI Agent Peter Burke, okay, Peter Burke."

Joe nodded, "Yeah got it, Peter Burke." Then suddenly Joe continued,"Wait..isn't he Dad's friend?"

Neal nodded, "Yes..yes he is. He's the only one that I trust. He will definitely come for me."

Joe nodded,"Peter Burke, it is."

Neal relaxed at this and carefully climbed atop the chair and laced his fingers. "Come on." Joe climbed up beside Neal and shook his head, " Are you sure, this will work? I'm barely able to stand here." His feet were wobbly, and he was scared that the chair won't be able to take both their weights.

"Just do it." Neal said frustrated, he was already worried that he might collapse any second, he really didn't want to worry about the chair right now.

Joe nodded and placed his foot on Neal's hands then gripped his shoulders for additional leverage and climbed on his hands. Neal grunted but held him steady. Joe then put one foot on Neal's shoulder and hoisted himself up on both shoulders and raised his hands to reach the vent grill and let out a victory shout when his hands gripped the grill. He carefully removed the screws and pulled hard on the grill. The grill came off. He then handed it to Neal who placed it beside him in the chair. Joe then hoisted himself up into the vent. He then lay flat on his stomach and leaned down and stretched his hand towards Neal.

"Come on, Neal, grab my hand!" Neal nodded but his head started spinning dangerously and he lost balance and toppled over the chair and hit the ground hard with a thud. His wounded shoulder taking the hit. He let out a muffled scream of pain and he blacked out.

Joe shouted, "Neal!.. Neal!..come on, get up!..Please. Neal!" His heart was beating very fast. They didn't have much time, what if the bad guys come inside the room. He thought of leaving Neal here but quickly crushed that thought. No, he couldn't leave him alone. He was still thinking about this when he saw Neal stir.

Joe sighed in pure relief.

"Yes! Come on Neal!" He urged. Neal came back slowly and was able to get on all fours. He suddenly heard the door click. He froze. The door flung open and there stood Raees. Joe reacted quickly and hid himself in the vent.

~~~~~~~~.

"Well, well, well.. What's going on in here?" Raees walked inside the room and came and stood right in front of Neal, who was still on his fours. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were trying to escape, pretty face." His said coldly. He hauled Neal to his feet and the latter couldn't help but scream because Raees was gripping his wounded shoulder tightly. He held Neal in front him, his right hand gripping him tightly and left was holding the gun to Neal's temple.

Neal's vision was swimming and winced when Raees pressed the gun hard to his temple. For a few seconds he was confused as to why and what was happening, but suddenly he remembered Joe. He prayed desperately that at least Joe was able to get away.

Raees took a good look at the room. He noticed the chair , the open vent and the missing roommate. His inside was filled with frustration and anger. He again pressed the gun hard making sure that the temple was more than bruised. He spoke in a low deadly voice right into Neal's ear, " Where is the kid?" Neal shook his head negatively and replied, "I don't know.. Must have gotten away.."

Raees pressed his wounded shoulder hard. Neal closed his eyes to stop the tears they were beginning to flow because of the immense pain but they just flowed. But he held back his scream and didn't give Raees that pleasure. Raees then shouted, "Joe! Joe! I know you are up there! Come on come out now!"

Joe's heart was hammering in his chest and he was sweating profusely. What should he do, he thought. Should he give himself up? Or should he try and get away from here and call help? He had actually jumped when Raees called out his name, but didn't utter a word. Raees' words floated into his ears again.

"Joe! Last warning! You don't know me but this pretty face here knows me well. He knows what happens when you make mistakes! Come down NOW!" He growled.

Joe shook his head silently as he decided that he would go on and try to escape just like it had been decided between him and Neal. He turned and started crawling towards what he hoped was his freedom. He had crossed a small distance when he heard a gun shot! All the color drained from him. Did the bad guy shoot Neal? Should he check? No! Just keep going. Just keep going! 'Sorry Neal. Hold on okay, please!" He whispered to himself.

~~~~~~~~.

Raees was seething in anger. Joe had not shown himself. He removed the gun from Neal's temple and fired. The bullet lodged safely in the opposite wall. Neal flinched, the sound of the report was humongous to his ears.

Raees spoke, " He won't be able to escape. You know it better right?" Neal kept quiet. Silently thanking Joe for making the right decision. Raees then spun Neal around so that now they were facing each other. Raees spoke,

"You know you really don't have manners." Neal just stared confused. "You were trying to leave the party without meeting the host." It suddenly dawned on Neal that Raees was talking about the person who orchestrated the entire thing. He now knew that it wasn't Leonard Miller.

"Well..what can I say.. I got tired of waiting."

"Your wait is now over, pretty face, come on let's go." He grabbed Neal's right arm tightly again and dragged him viciously out the room. Neal kept loosing his footing and stumbled again and again. Raees kept walking swiftly ignoring Neal's grunts and painful moans. He walked across the corridor and bounded down the stairs with Neal in tow.

They reached on the ground floor and Raees threw Neal down on the couch. Neal bit back the scream of pain and tried sitting in a position that was less painful. Raees stood beside him with the ever present gun in his hand in case Neal tried to do something he didn't like.

Neal sat waiting on the couch. He looked around the room and noticed that it was a farmhouse. Other than the set of couches and a coffee table, there was a fireplace at a distance directly opposite of him. Even though he was sweating profusely and was burning up, he was chilled to the bone. He wished he was sitting next to the warm fire. The room was eerily silent except for his harsh breathing. He would finally get to see who was behind all this mess. Whoever that person was sure must hate him. In his life he had made a truckload of enemies but he was completely in the dark in this case. He braced himself for the worst. He thought whoever that person was, he was ready to meet him.

Raees' voice broke into his thoughts and he came back to the present. " Here he comes, pretty face."

'Come on, show yourself.' Neal muttered under his breath, but when the person came inside the room and walked upto him and stood right in front of him, Neal thought, ' No! No! This is not possible..how can he do this?' Whatever colour Neal had drained out of him. His mind was swirling in confusion and doubt. 'I have finally lost it!' He thought the raging fever was making him see things that weren't supposed to be there but then the person spoke and Neal's doubt was vanished.

~~~~~~~.

Joseph Miller kept crawling forward in the duct. The duct was large enough only to squeeze in one person, so it was really difficult going forward but he didn't give up and went on. He finally reached another vent, which meant he had reached another room. He quickly pulled out his lucky charm to loosen the screws, but then he noticed that the grill was screwed from the outside. 'Great! ' He said in frustration. He pocketed the coin and rolled onto his back and positioned his legs directly above the grill and slammed them hard but the grill didn't budge. 'Now what?' He knew he couldn't go back, what if the bad guy was still there in the room? He tried again with full force and one more time and was rewarded when one side of the grill popped off and the grill was left hanging on its one side.

He let out a relieved breath and bracing himself for the pain, he jumped into the room after peeping into it to be sure it was empty. He landed hard on the floor and grunted in pain. He left ankle hurt like hell. Damn! I think its broken, he thought. He lay down there for a few more seconds to get his bearings back. He got up slowly putting his entire weight on his right foot. He tried shifting some of that weight on his left foot but covered his mouth quickly to muffle the scream that he let out. God! It was excruciatingly painful.

He looked around the room. It was a bedroom. There was a window but it was grilled. Only one option Joe thought. He limped towards the door and prayed, please be open! Please be open! He turned the knob and the door swung open. He peeped outside and found himself alone. He sighed in relaxation. He could hear voices coming from his right side, he was able to catch Neal's voice and that brought immense relief because he had thought that the bad guy had shot him.

He saw a set of stairs on his left and decided to head that way. On reaching at the bottom he saw a room on his immediate left. He entered and discovered that it was a kitchen and to his utter relief it was empty of any other human presence other than himself.

He quickly found the door leading to the basement. He turned the knob and the door creaked open. He waited with held breath for anybody who might have heard the noise and came gunning in the room. But no one came. He hobbled down the stairs and reached the bottom. The basement was stuffed with all kinds of things but that was not what arrested Joe's interest. He saw a glass window at an reasonable height.

He dragged a heavy wooden crate right under the window and climbed on top of it and quickly freed himself of his jacket and wrapped it around his hand and smashed the glass and climbed onto the window and closed his eyes and got out. He didn't waste any time to catch his breath and got to his feet. His left leg was hurting very badly but he ignored the pain and limped forward glancing back only once, 'Hang on Neal. I will bring help.'

The sun had come up and was shining bright so he decided not to stay there for long. He kept walking in search of the main road to hitch a ride.

~~~~~~~~.

Peter Burke was shocked to the core on hearing the person's name that was behind Neal's kidnapping. He had never imagined that this man would do such a thing. So he asked again to confirm whether he had heard right,

"Are you sure that's the name he gave you?"

"You think I am an idiot, Agent Burke?" The guy was annoyed. Peter rolled his eyes. Only Neal could have such friends.

"I know that you are not an idiot, but the name you have given, I'm not able to digest this information."

"Well.. That's exactly the name he has given me. We have arranged to meet tomorrow too."

"Really? Where's meet?"

"Central park in your city, Agent Burke. I'm supposed to bring Neal's wealth there."

"That's good news! We'll be there to apprehend the man. He will lead us to Neal."

"Alright then, the meet is scheduled at 10 am. Be sure to bring your team."

"Yeah ..yeah." Peter disconnected the call. He sat back in the chair opposite Len and rubbed his face wearily and sighed.

Leonard Miller who had heard the entire conversation from Peter's side knew that his friend had gotten a solid lead about his CI, his friend. He too sighed in relief because he was genuinely feeling guilty about all this. He kept watching his friend's face and asked before he could stop himself,

"Does this mean .. That we will find my Joe too, Peter?"

Peter's brown eyes met Len's green and he spoke, "I definitely hope so Len, I definitely hope so." Peter then studied his friend, Len looked very tired and he was also genuinely guilty about what he had done but remorse wasn't a way out.

"You know, after all this is over, you're going to face prison Len." Len lowered his eyes and nodded, "Wouldn't have it any other way Peter."

Agent Diana Barrigan came in after knocking the door.

"Sorry boss.. But there's someone who wants to see you very urgently."

~~~~~~~.

Please don't hate me for not revealing the person yet, please. I promise you will get to know about him in the next chapter, I promise :-)


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks once again to all of you for reading this story :-)**

~~~~~~.

Back in time before the phone call to Peter...

Neal sat as patiently as he could on the couch. His eyes were drooping shut but he tried his hardest not to loose the battle. Raees was standing next to him with the ever present gun in his hand, just in case Neal tried to do anything stupid. Neal laughed bitterly at the scene. He couldn't even stand on his own, then how in the world did Raees think he would do anything beyond that. Raees turned at the sound of Neal's laughter, and raised his eyebrow and asked,

"What is so funny, pretty face?" Neal stopped laughing and only glared at the monster though it looked like he was squinting, "What? Cat got your tongue?" Still Neal only glared. "Laugh and glare all you want pretty face, it will all be wiped away within a few minutes."

Neal finally spoke, " So where's the host of this party? Don't tell me that he suddenly got cold feet."

Raees smirked, and it irritated Neal like hell. "Here he comes." Raees spoke and ignored Neal's comment as if he hadn't spoken.

Neal turned his blue eyes away from Raees and fixed them on the door. Finally the man who was behind all this was going to make his appearance. He steeled himself and waited with baited breath. He had thought that he was prepared for anyone who was to enter the room but as the man finally entered , all the remaining colour drained out of him. His heart suddenly felt like it had been clenched by an ice cold hand.

'I have finally lost it. Yes! That's the only reason.' Neal thought. He wondered whether it was because of the fever or the dehydration that he was seeing people that weren't supposed to be there. But then the person spoke and he felt like his heart stopped.

"Hello Neal"

"D..Dad.." Neal stumbled upon the word. He still couldn't believe his eyes because there standing right in front of him was Neal's father, James Bennett.

"Son.." James spoke again but his face showed no outward sign of emotion. A long heavy silence stretched between them. Neal stared at his dad as if he was an illusion and if he turned away he might disappear into thin air. Raees was beginning to think that he'd have to take the initiative and start the talk but then he heard Neal's anguished voice,

"Why?" Neal had so many questions swirling in his mind, but he just uttered one. Out of all the people wanting to hurt him, he had never imagined that his own father would be among them. Yes his relationship with his dad wasn't exactly rosy but had it been so worse that his dad actually wanted to harm him?

James Bennett just stared at his son, taking in his physical appearance. Neal looked straight out of a horror movie. Clothes torn and bloody. Face marred by the various cuts and bruises. He noticed Neal was having trouble with each breath, probably because of a couple of broken ribs. He could also see a small trickle of blood flowing from the GSW. Looking at the battered condition of his son, he almost wished that he had done things differently, almost. He was brought back from his musings by Neal's voice.

"Just tell me, why?" Neal yelled.

"I wanted to meet you son." James said it with such compassion that Neal almost believed him but,

Neal scoffed, "Yeah right, Dad!"

"Believe me kid, I just wanted to see you."

"Okay, let's believe that for a few seconds, ever heard of phones? I would have come and met you."

"You know I couldn't do that. After I left, I mean after Peter's arrest I didn't think you would have ever wanted to see me again."

"Am I to be blamed for that." Neal asked raising his eyebrow.

"No of course not son. So I had to go about this a little differently." James replied shaking his head.

"Yeah like kidnapping Peter's friend's son? And then making him kidnap me? And let this monster Raees hurt me?" Neal asked sarcastically.

Raees interrupted, " What can I say pretty face, I just love inflicting pain." He smiled coldly.

Neal replied with utmost disgust, " My name is Neal!"

Raees opened his mouth to reply back but James stopped him. "Please, Raees, this is between me and him. You can wait for any further instructions in the next room." Raees didn't look too happy about what James said but he obliged for now. He glanced at Neal one last time before strolling out of the room.

Neal was relaxed at this, he really didn't think he could do anything about Raees in his weakened state. He turned his eyes on his father and asked again, " Why did you do this."

James sighed and came forward and sat beside Neal, who immediately tensed. He then placed his hand on Neal's thigh and was shocked to feel the heat radiating off Neal's body but he kept his emotion in check and answered, " I couldn't think of any other way at the time. I missed you son."

Neal removed his father's hand from his thigh and asked, " What do you want Dad?"

James laughed slightly, "I just told you, didn't I? I wanted to see you. I missed you son, so much."

Neal laughed sadly, " Please Dad, please don't insult my intelligence. You and me both know that what you are telling me ain't the truth."

James sighed and ran both his hands through his hair. " Believe it or not Neal, I really missed you and I really want to spend the rest of my life with you. You know like real father and son? We can leave the moment you say yes."

Neal nodded, "So..so you are suggesting that I leave my life here and go with you?"

James nodded, "Yeah son, we can be family again. We can live happily in the future."

Neal looked at James as if he had gone crazy. "Just in case you haven't noticed Dad, but right now I'm a little incapacitated. Right now I even doubt that I am going to survive another couple days and you are talking about future?"

James waved his hand in dismissal, "Come on Neal, it's not like you are going to drop dead any minute. Nothing a good doctor can't take care of."

"What about the life I have here, Dad? What about the people who care about me?" Neal asked deciding to leave the topic about his health because clearly his dad didn't seem to be much worried about it.

James sprung out of the couch and began pacing in front of Neal and spoke in revulsion, " What people are you talking about Neal? Are you talking about that FBI Agent Peter Burke? He doesn't care about you! He only thinks of you as an asset, a very good asset to his work. He knows that by acting like he actually cares about you, will get you to do things which will make him famous in his field! And do you really think that after you have served him, Peter will want to keep any relation with you? You are a criminal Neal, always were and always will be, Peter Burke would never have anything to do with you."

Neal looked at James in disbelief, he couldn't imagine to hear such things about Peter. No matter how many differences they had in the past, Peter had always cared for him. He had never for one second doubted Peter's intentions regarding him. But his father clearly didn't see that. He parted his lips to say something, anything to James to make him stop but James was already speaking,

"Or are you talking about that Peter Burke's wife who only cares about her husband's well being? And oh please, don't tell it's that bald eccentric guy you are talking about! He clearly doesn't even know the C of 'care'! I'm your real family kid! Not them! I'm your father! I care about you! I love you Neal!"

James kept ranting about the people who meant so much to him and he couldn't take it anymore. Whether those people cared about him or not, he definitely cared about them. So he just couldn't sit there and let James talk rubbish about them. So he raised his voice as loud as he could and stopped his father's tirade.

"Enough Dad! Please just stop it, please. Just tell me what do you want? Just tell me and get over with it."

James stopped his pacing and stared long at his son. He sighed and came back and sat beside Neal again. Neal was getting really uncomfortable with such proximity.

James turned slightly so that he was facing his son and spoke again but the tone was no longer an angry one. "Neal, I really wanted to see you, live life like a family. Why is it so hard for you to believe me?"

Neal stared at his father, searching for any sign of truth or even duplicity for that matter. But his father was just as good as him, even better when it came to hide the real face. He just couldn't decipher what his father really wanted. So with his remaining strength quickly fading, he decided to play along with him for a while. He tried sitting straighter before answering his father.

"Okay, so let's say that I agree to come with you, then what? Me and you just leave?"

"No of course not Neal. We just can't up and leave. We will need to make arrangements. We will need money."

Everything clicked in the right place suddenly to Neal. It was all about the money. It always was. He still played along.

"So how do we get the money? ..oh wait, what about the money stolen from the bank?"

"Yeah...well, that money ain't enough." James said abruptly.

"Ain't enough?..If I am not wrong, then it had to be at least 250 million dollars.. That much money ain't enough for us Dad?" Neal asked confused.

James was getting annoyed with this, " Yeah, ain't enough. I had to share it with people who were with me in this."

"People? As far as I can see, only Raees is here. Who else is involved Dad?"

"Look I don't have to answer your questions Neal." James replied adamantly.

"Okay.. Okay.. So if that money is not enough, then how do you suppose more money will come?" Neal already knew the answer but still pressed on.

"I have done some research and I have come to know that you have some money to spare, son."

"Me?" Neal feigned confusion, "I don't have any large amount Dad. You very well know that the Nazi treasure was confiscated by the FBI. I only have what the FBI pays me for being their Criminal Consultant."

"Neal please don't for a second think that I will believe you. I have done my homework thoroughly and I know about your stash , that stash which you haven't told the bald guy about too." James tone was suddenly very cold.

"I really don't know what you are talking about Dad. I don't." Neal shifted a bit away from his father.

"Damn it Neal!" James growled and got out of the couch once again and stood towering over his son. "Just tell me where is it. Just tell me. It will be good for both of us."

"Seriously Dad.. I.." Neal couldn't finish as at that very moment Raees came storming into the room , reached Neal in a couple of strides and manhandled him to his feet and punched him in the stomach. Neal screamed in pain and would have kissed the floor but Raees was holding him tightly.

Raees sneered, "Pretty face, what kind of a son are you huh? Don't disobey him and be a good son and tell us where the stash is."

Neal risked a glance towards his father, hoping against hope that he would see worry on his face but he was very wrong. James just stood there with his arms crossed.

"I don't know...what you are talking about.." Neal struggled the words out. He was trying his damnest hard to not pass out.

"Neal, stop being so stubborn. You really don't want to do this the hard way." James said frustrated.

Neal just shook his head in negative. Raees lost it totally and took out his gun and pointed it at Neal's temple. " One chance, only one chance, pretty face, and then you will be history."

James came forward and tried to convince Neal. " Come on Neal, is this money more important than your life? Just tell us where is it and you can walk free."

Neal's eyes began to burn and he closed his eyes to stop the tears which were at bay from falling but still a single tear streaked down his face. He could not take this. His father did not care about him. He only cared for money. But he should have known , he should have known that he was never meant to be loved or cared. He didn't deserve any of these things. He was meant to be forever alone. He never deserved a father, never deserved a family. He deserved only one thing and that was loneliness.

He opened his eyes and stared into his father's eyes with so much anguish that James had to tear his eyes away from him. "So ..so if I tell you everything, what happens next Dad? You and I still go and live a happy family life together?"

James flicked his eyes back on his son's face. " No Neal, I go my way and you go your way. I won't bother you again. I really need this money, kid."

Neal felt such pain in his heart which no amount physical pain could match. He still wanted to hang on to the hope that his father loved him. He dared to ask, "Was any of it real? .. I mean the conversation that we just had , that you love me and care about me, was it for real?"

James didn't utter a word and just once again flicked his eyes away from his son. And Neal's heart broke into a million pieces.

Raees got tired of waiting and pushed the gun deeper into Neal's temple, and spat out, "where is the stash?" Neal didn't even hear him, he was still in his own world of pain, " Please Dad, tell me please."

James finally looked at his son and answered him, "Of course Neal, I love you. Just tell me what I want to know now."

Neal closed his eyes again, feeling totally alone, he knew his father was lying. The entire conversation was just to get him to talk about the hidden wealth. He opened his eyes again and decided that he would give what his Dad wanted. The money didn't matter to him anymore.

Raees yelled, "Where is it?"

Neal actually jumped and answered, " I have given it to someone, my friend, for safekeeping.. I will give you his number and you can talk to him. If you want I can do it for you.."

James cut his son off, " I will do it myself son, just give me the number."

Neal nodded and asked for a cellphone. James handed him one. He then clicked some numbers and handed it to his Dad. His father took the cell and went out of the room to talk. Neal and Raees waited for James to come back.

Raees saw this as a perfect opportunity and taunted Neal, " Not exactly a father of the year figure, eh?" Neal remained silent so Raees continued, " my dad wouldn't have done this to me, you know. I really pity you."

Neal glared at Raees and replied, " For a father who wouldn't have done this to you, you first need a father that is legit."

Anger boiled in Raees and he smacked across Neal's face hard and Neal crumpled down into a heap. Neal was really glad of the overpowering darkness and was about to give into it when he was suddenly hauled to his feet.

"Not so fast, pretty face! You cannot pass out just yet. The party's just getting started." Neal stared at Raees dazed. He was confused as to what party was the monster talking about. His eyes began to shut involuntarily but Raees shook him roughly, "Didn't I tell you not to pass out?" His face dangerously close to Neal's.

Neal just nodded but he really didn't know how was he going to stay awake. Raees looked satisfied with him and threw him back on the couch. James came back from another room and took in the scene.

"What happened here?"

Raees replied lazily, "Nothing that should concern you, James."

"Is he okay?" James couldn't help but ask.

Raees nodded, " Of course, he's just fine. The call went well?"

James nodded and turned to Neal who was trying his best to keep his eyes open. " This is it, son. Hope we never cross paths again."

Neal widened his eyes a bit more to see his father and stuttered, " You are..leaving D..Dad? What about me?"

James hesitated before speaking, " I am leaving. But there's someone who is eager to meet you."

Neal thought that for a second, his father's face was marred by pain. But then that expression went as quickly as it had come. James then turned his back to Neal and walked away leaving his son and didn't look back.

Raees then once again dragged Neal out of the couch. Neal swayed dangerously and his knees refused to carry his weight but the strong hand of Raees on him kept him standing on the ground.

Through his blurry vision Neal saw someone approach towards him. When the person was only a foot away from him, his eyes widened in shock.

"Hello Caffrey! So good to see you!" The man punched Neal's face hard and Raees let go of him and Neal lost consciousness even before hitting the ground hard.

Raees smirked, "Now you can sleep, pretty face! Sweet dreams!"

~~~~~~.

Back to present..

Peter Burke was in the middle of the conversation with Leonard Miller when Agent Diana Barrigan came in after knocking the door.

"Boss, there's someone who really needs to see you. He says it's urgent."

Peter nodded, " Alright, take him to my office, I will be right there." He turned back to Len.

Diana spoke again, " Um..boss, it would be better if I brought him here."

Peter turned to face Diana, he knew that if Diana was suggesting this then it would be for a good reason. "Yeah ..okay, send him in."

~~~~~~.

A teenage boy not more than fifteen or sixteen entered the interrogation room. He limped slowly towards the duo. Before Peter could even take a good look at the kid, Len was out of his chair with a jolt. He crossed the distance between him and the kid in a flash and engulfed him in a tight and warm embrace.

"Joe, my son! How are you? How did you get here? Are you okay?" Len fired his questions at his son.

Peter stood there looking at the father son reunion. He felt a pang of jealousy. He wished that it was Neal who was here and it was him who had embraced Neal. His eyes shone brightly. He prayed that wherever Neal was, he was safe.

~~~~~~~.

Joseph Miller now sat beside his father in Peter Burke's office. After the tearful reunion, the father and son had calmed down and Joe was ready to talk. Joe recalled everything from the start. He said that he was being held at some farmhouse. They didn't harm him in any way. He then told them how he met Neal and how with his help he was able to escape.

Peter listened to Joe very carefully. His heart ached when Joe said that Neal was in a very bad condition. He just wished to meet James and have him in person for just a few minutes. He would then inflict all the pain that Neal was suffering into him.

"So, can you take me to the farmhouse?" He asked Joe.

"Yeah.. I promised Neal that I would bring help. In fact he was confident that after I tell you where he was, you would come for him."

Peter was overwhelmed by this. He knew that he and Neal had trust issues but their faith in each other was always intact.

"Okay, I will ready my team, you come with us."

Len opened his mouth to refuse but Peter beat him and spoke first, " Len I promise to keep your son safe, okay!"

Len just nodded and got out of the chair. Joe followed and was immediately engulfed in his dad's arms. "Be safe son." Joe nodded, " Yeah I will, Dad."

Peter's cellphone rang and he removed it from his pocket and looked at the screen. Unknown number.

He answered, "Burke."

"Suit .. I just found out who's back in town." Mozzie said it all in one breath.

"Relax Mozzie, I know about James Bennett."

"James Bennett?.. Neal's Dad?.. He's back too?" Mozzie asked confused.

Peter picked up his tone and asked in turn, " Wait.. You mean somebody else is back too?"


	11. Chapter 11

**A big BEAR HUG to all those who are reading, reviewing, following and favoriting this story :-)**

******.

Peter Burke's cellphone rang, he removed it from his pocket and stared at the number, it flashed as unknown number. He answered,

"Burke."

"Suit.. I just found out who's back in town." Mozzie said all in one breath.

"Relax Mozzie, I know about James Bennett."

"James Bennett?..Neal's Dad?.. He's back too?" Mozzie asked confused.

Peter picked up his tone and asked in turn, " Wait.. Somebody else is back too?"

"Boy! Neal's bad luck is at it's peak.." Mozzie mumbled.

"Who is back Mozzie?" Peter ordered.

"Matthew Keller.. Suit."

Peter curled his lips in disgust, " Keller!" He spat in contempt. " But wasn't he under arrest?"

"Yeah, but I guess he escaped. Suit.. You better find Neal quick. I really have a bad feeling about this. I know he might not be involved but still.."

"Yeah Mozzie.. I know the location where Neal is right now, I'm heading there straight away."

"Just bring him back, Peter.. Please."

"Yeah I will.. I will." He disconnected the call. He turned to Joe and ordered, " Come on, let's go. We don't have time."

Joe nodded and followed Peter out of his office after giving a final look at his father Leonard Miller.

*******.

Matthew Keller and Raees stood in front of Neal who was still unconscious. They had propped him up on a chair and tied a rope across his chest to prevent him from toppling over.

"He's burning up, the longer he's out, the larger is the chance of him not waking up at all." Raees spoke first.

Keller turned his eyes away from Neal and locked into Raees' , " I'm not letting him go this easy. I have waited for this moment. I want him to be awake, I want to see the fear in his eyes, I want him to beg me to end his life!" His tone filled with anger.

Raees nodded, "So what do we do?"

"Go get some ice cold water.. " Keller ordered after thinking over it.

Raees hesitated, " You know that will cause more damage."

Keller shot him a look of disbelief, " Seriously?"

"I was just saying..."

Keller stopped Raees in mid sentence, " Don't say , just get the water, alright."

Raees nodded and left the room and came back with a bucket of cold water after a few seconds and glanced at Keller, who nodded. He dumped the entire bucket over Neal's head.

******.

Neal jerked violently and gasped as the cold water hit his body and brought him back to the land of living. He shivered uncontrollably and his breath came in short bursts which hurt him like piercing knives. He tried opening his eyes but his eyelids felt heavy. He tried again and managed to pry them open half way through.

Somebody was talking something but everything was buzzing in his ears. He just couldn't understand what was going on. He just couldn't understand why was he feeling so hot and cold at the same time. He felt someone's presence near him. He tried to widen his eyes and this time was successful.

Someone was looming over him. His first thought was that the face was familiar. Then that someone spoke, " Hey Caffrey, come on, concentrate, focus! "

Slowly Neal's shivering ceased, and he didn't know if it was a good sign or not. He was still confused as to why he was here, that is wherever here was. He was still confused about why his body was hurting so much. Seconds ticked off and that familiar face kept talking to him. Slowly his fuzzy mind began to focus somehow. His eyes locked into those staring back at him.

Suddenly his mind swirled with memories of the past few days, the most prominent being the memory of his Dad. Thinking about his dad Neal felt fierce pain shoot in his heart. His eyes burned. His dad had proved yet again that he didn't care about his son. A feeling of utter despair and loneliness engulfed him but he decided to concentrate on his present circumstances. He finally recognized the person standing in front of him.

"Keller..." His voice cracked despite his effort to keep it steady.

"Wakey wakey Caffrey! You had me worried there for a while." Keller gushed in mock concern.

"I'm touched Keller! But let's just skip the formalities." Neal managed to keep his voice steady this time.

"Yeah, there shouldn't be any formalities between us, after all we old friends, right Caffrey."

Neal snorted, "What do you want Keller?"

"This.." Keller instantly struck Neal hard across his face. Neal's vision blurred again. He blinked his eyes to clear his vision and licked his bleeding lower lip. Keller then grasped his hair and yanked his head back cruelly. Neal cleared his eyes, Keller was only an inch apart, he tried not to flinch but failed miserably.

Keller placed his other hand on Neal's thigh grasping tightly, Neal winced and Keller whispered coldly into Neal's ear, " I want to inflict so much pain in you, Caffrey, that you can't take it anymore and beg me to kill you." Neal shuddered but then laughed even though it pained him acutely.

"Didn't know you had a funny bone in you, Keller! But I must say I'm not impressed, maybe you could try a little harder. Maybe next time I will be more amused." Each word came out in gasp but he didn't want Keller to think that his words had hit him home.

Keller growled in anger, "You think I am joking, Caffrey?.. We shall see who has the last laugh here."

He released his hands and straightened himself and flicked his eyes to Raees who was standing on the right side of Neal, and nodded. Raees freed himself of the knife that was in his pocket and handed it to Keller. Neal's eyes widened in fear.

Keller admired the knife in his hand and then turned to Neal and spoke, " You know I can kill you with one flick of this at the right spot. But where's the fun in that, Caffrey! I want you to scream and cry out in pain and beg, beg until I take pity on you and kill you!"

Neal only stared at Keller, not giving him any satisfaction by showing his fear. It was only matter of time , Peter would come. That kid Joe must have reached him. Keller seemed to sense his thoughts and spoke, "What? .. You really believe that Burkie's gonna come here like some superhero and save you?" Neal didn't reply but internally he was screaming, 'Yes, yes, Peter will come..he will find me, he always does.'

Keller must have read his thoughts and laughed derisively, " Really Caffrey, I have gotto hand it to you. It's been like how many days? Three? Four? Then where is he? Why hasn't he come yet, huh? Accept it, Caffrey, he doesn't care about a criminal like you." Neal kept quiet.

This only fuelled Keller and he suddenly crossed the short distance between them and pressed the tip of the knife on Neal's cheek. Neal stiffened. "You think he's going to come? Now let's see how much pain can you take before this saviour that you think of yours comes and saves you." He taunted.

He pushed the tip of the knife fractionally into the soft skin and drew blood and slowly dragged it down towards Neal's jaw and then to his exposed neck. Neal pinched his eyes shut as he felt burning pain where the knife had been dragged. He could also feel trickle of blood flowing too. He knew that the knife was still on his skin. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Keller looking at him with amused expression.

"Seriously Caffrey, what is it with you? Whoever comes in your life never stay or just don't care! Sara, Ellen, Rachel , Kate.." Neal cut him off sharply, " Shut up!"

Keller pushed the knife further into Neal's throat and blood flowed more easily and Neal whimpered in pain. Keller asked in satisfaction on hearing the latter's pained moan , "Or what?" Neal closed his eyes again and Keller continued, " Now let's talk about James." Neal's eyes involuntarily flicked open.

"You know, your father and I accidentally met at a bar. We struck a deal there. I give him money, your hidden money and he gives me.." Keller paused dramatically to make sure Neal had his attention, "You."

A lone tear escaped from Neal's eye and slid down his cheek and got mixed with blood and sweat and dumped water. He bowed his head down. After his father had gone and left him at the mercy of Raees and Keller, Neal had known that his father had partnered with Keller and planned the entire thing. All for money. But to hear it bluntly from his nemesis' mouth was pure cruel.

"But I needed money too! So we decided to rob the bank and pin it on you. But you had to act over smart and pass a message to Burkie. ..you know we hadn't planned on bringing you here this early, we wanted to make sure that the entire robbery was pinned on you, but Burke got your message and we had to change the schedule and meet you earlier." Neal's head was still bowed down. "And don't worry about James, he's got it coming too! After I am done with you..let's just say, your dad won't even know what hit him." Neal jerked his head upward and stared at Keller.

"Really Caffrey, you are bad news to everybody who is in your life..now come on, which father leaves his son like this? Which father trades his son for money? It's you Caffrey, you are the problem..." Keller went on, taking great pleasure in playing with Neal's mind and actually putting the blame on Neal for planning on killing his father later on, "you know what I think?.." Neal blinked his tearful eyes and fixed them on Keller.

"I think that Burkie has finally realised that he's better off without you. After all, come on admit it, you've caused more problems in his life! It was because of you that I had to kidnap him and El." Keller's gaze went to Raees who was smirking at his cruel game.

"So now tell me, where is he? I'm sure that kid Joe must have reached him, and still no sign of your master!" Neal just stared at Keller but the latter could see that he was shaking.

"So you see it's high time, Caffrey that you left these people to let them live the rest of their lives in peace, without the problem, that is one Neal Caffrey!"

Neal finally opened his mouth and spoke with determination, " Peter will come, he will find me, he always does, and when he does that, you will rot in hell." Raees came suddenly foward and punched him in the face and stars danced in front of Neal but he remained quiet and glared at Keller.

Anger burned in Keller, without warning, he pushed the knife deeper into Neal's neck and dragged it towards his chest sharply slicing his shirt in the process. He dragged the knife viciously across Neal's chest. Blood gushed out from the knife wound but Neal bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming out in pain.

Keller went backwards and stood a foot apart from Neal. He wanted to hear Neal scream but so far Neal hadn't given that pleasure. He came forward again and stood looming over Neal. " Well.. We shall see about that Caffrey because Peter Burke is a smart person, he knows what value does a criminal hold, or not hold for that matter." He then placed the tip of the knife which was smeared with Neal's blood on Neal's thigh, " Burke ain't gonna come. He's not going to waste his precious time on a criminal like you. The sooner you learn this fact, the better it will be for you!" He sneered.

Neal shook his head in negative to indicate Keller that he was wrong but then Keller plunged the knife into his thigh, deeper and deeper until only the handle could be seen, blood gushed out freely staining Neal's pants , the chair and the ground as Neal screamed, his vision blinded again as he felt excruciating pain where the knife was embedded.

Keller sniggered, " Scream Caffrey! Scream!" Neal stopped abruptly drawing a sobbing breath, he was not going to give Keller what he wanted. Never!

Raees came forward and spoke, " I think, it requires just a little twist." motioning towards the knife. And Keller complied. He gave the knife a vicious twist and Neal screamed again as an unearthly pain took over his body. The pain was so overwhelming that he just couldn't give in to the blissful darkness.

"Beg me Caffrey, beg me! And I might just relieve you of your pain. " Keller whispered in Neal's ear ferociously. Neal's screams had stopped by now but the whimpering continued. He turned his head slightly towards Keller and whispered, "Keep dreaming, Keller! "

Keller twisted the knife more and left it there which elicited another howl of pain from Neal, " Damn it, Caffrey! I will break you! I will see to it that you go down on your knees and beg me for death!"

******.

Peter Burke was seated in his Tauras along with Joseph Miller and heading towards the farmhouse where Neal was being held. His team was following him behind in the van. He was trying his hardest not to drive over the speed limit. He just hoped that they reached Neal in time. He knew Matthew Keller and he knew how dangerous that guy could be if he wanted to be. With James together, he didn't know what hell Neal must be going through. He knew he had no proof that Keller was involved in this but his gut feeling was telling him that Keller was definitely where James and Neal were.

"How much further?" He asked to Joe without removing his eyes from the road.

"I think about another hour and half." Joe answered.

Peter unconsciously increased the speed and almost ran into a truck. He then suddenly hit the brakes and the occupants of the car were propelled forward. Joe was hit in the head by the Dashboard.

Joe yelled, " Ouch!" He turned his head towards Peter and asked, "Hey!.. You okay?"

Peter recovered from the incident and maneuvered the car slowly and turned to Joe and answered, " Yeah yeah.. I'm okay..you?"

Joe nodded, " Please Sir, by acting rashly we won't be able to help Neal. What good will we be to him if we ourselves land up in the hospital?"

Peter sighed in frustration, " I know, I know Joe.. It's just that ..you don't know what a dangerous person Keller is. Neal's life is in big danger here."

Joe nodded again, " I'm sure what you are saying is true, but Neal has survived up till now, I am sure he can live through another hour and half, right?"

Peter nodded in agreement, " Yeah, If anyone can survive, it's Neal." Silently begging, praying, doing whatever that could help Neal to just hold on.

Peter's cell began to ring. He got it out of his jacket and answered without looking, " Burke"

"Peter, I called at the bureau, they informed me that you got lead on Neal's case. Did you find him yet?" El spoke rapidly on the other side of the phone.

Peter sighed, "No El, I'm on my way, let's hope I find him there.. Alive." Peter couldn't help but add.

"Of course you will find him , Peter. I am sure he would be fine." Peter didn't reply. " What is it that you are not telling Peter?" El asked.

Peter knew he had to tell his wife the truth, but mentioning Keller always hit her hard. Still he decided to be honest, " Keller is back El.." El gasped. " but we aren't sure whether he has Neal or not." Peter added hastily.

El spoke after a long pause, " Just find him Peter, just find Neal."

Peter agreed, " That's exactly what I will do, El."

******.

Matthew Keller and Raees had left Neal in battered, bloody and bruised condition to take a break for five minutes. When they returned, they were surprised to see Neal gripped in a seizure and was convulsing violently. They approached him immediately and stood there staring at Neal as he suddenly gagged and retched and then the convulsions stopped.

Keller placed a hand on Neal's arm and felt the scorching heat that the skin was emitting. He then met Neal's eyes. By some miracle, he was still conscious, though it looked like he was soon going to loose the battle. Keller's lips curled upwards in an evil smirk and spoke, " Geez! Caffrey you are burning up! You know what?" He tapped his fingers on his chin thinking, " I have just the perfect solution."

Neal just stared, everything was fuzzy now. The pain had numbed and was making him lightheaded. He just couldn't think anything coherently. Only one thing he remembered, Peter will come, though now he no longer remembered why he wanted Peter to come in the first place.

Keller turned to Raees and ordered him to bring another bucket of chilled water and a plastic sheet. Raees smiled and left and returned with the said items. They came forward and stood in front of Neal.

"Relax Caffrey!" Neal stared again in confusion and before his dulled mind could understand what Keller said, Keller went behind him and pressed the plastic sheet over his face. Immediately Neal started to suffocate. Raees then came forward and pour the cold water over the sheet.

Neal started jerking his head from side to side. His lungs screamed for air. His hands curled into fists and his fingers dug harshly making his palms bleed. He tried taking a breath but he choked as some of the cold water entered his mouth. His head began pounding mercilessly and everything became more darker and darker. He was just about to give into the blackness when he felt the pressure of water and plastic being released.

Before he could take in a breath the same process was repeated again. Again he convulsed violently. His lungs protesting in anger because of the lack of air. He thought this was it, this was the end, he accepted it in defeat but then again the pressure released.

He then hungrily gulped air which resulted in a coughing fit sending sharp shooting pain to his ribs and chest. The coughing finally stopped and Neal was mercifully dragged into oblivion.

Keller came forward and stood in front of Neal. He methodically wiped off his hands with his handkerchief and turned to Raees, " Let's give him five minutes, and then we will see what he wants."

Raees nodded, "I think we should not waste anymore time on him, that Agent Burke would be arriving here anytime soon. That kid, he must have given him our address." He finished disgustedly.

Keller agreed, " Yeah.. That kid shouldn't have escaped.." He couldn't finish his sentence as he was interrupted by Neal's painful moans. He jerked his head in his direction and saw that his victim was drifting in and out of unconsciousness. He neared him.

******.

Neal began to wake up and was instantly surrounded by pain and he couldn't understand which part of his body was hurting more and the strong stench of blood which was undoubtedly his was making him nauseous. The pain was so savage that he just couldn't take it anymore. He just wished to end it. Just wished to die. He wasn't thinking coherently at all. Many memories were swirling in his mind. Everybody, everybody who had come in his life , for whom he had cared and had loved had gone or had their lives ruined because of him, Keller was definitely right, he had to go. This way everything would be alright.

Another senseless thought crossed his muddled mind. He was certain now that Peter wouldn't come. Peter would never waste his time on him. Nobody cared for him, nobody. His father too had sold him out to Keller. He was forever alone and was meant to die alone here in the presence of his enemy. He opened his pain filled eyes and saw Keller standing in front of him.

Keller spoke, " Caffrey! Caffrey you with me?"

Neal didn't understand what Keller was talking about. He opened his mouth to speak, his voice barely a whisper, " If I beg you.." He paused, it hurt too much to speak.

"Yeah Caffrey, I'm listening." Keller replied after sharing a look at Raees, both knowing well that they had finally broken Neal.

"If ..if I beg you.. To kill ...kill..me.. Would you do it." It wasn't a question, but a request.

Keller grinned cruelly, " Of course Caffrey, you just have to plead and I will grant you your wish."

Neal barely nodded and continued, " Keller.. Please.. Please..just do it, please ..kill...me."

Keller smiled ferociously , " Of course Neal, anything you say! "

Neal then closed his eyes. Peter's face automatically came up and he whispered, 'I'm so sorry.' Neal didn't know for what was he sorry for. He didn't know whether it was because he gave up on Peter or whether it was because Peter hadn't come for him because he couldn't make a place in that person's heart, whom he considered his best friend, his elder brother and even his father or whether he was sorry for causing so much trouble in Peter's life. He guessed that maybe he was sorry for everything. He just wished he could have said it to Peter in person.

Neal's eyes remained closed as he waited for his end.

Keller removed a gun from his pocket and clipped it and aimed at Neal, " Goodbye Caffrey! " and the room was filled with a loud bang as a shot rang out.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you so much everybody for reading this story, you guys are just fabulous :-)**

*****.

Peter Burke, Joseph Miller and Peter's team reached the farmhouse almost exactly one and half hour after Peter had received his wife El's call. Peter and his team parked their respective vehicles a little distance from the farmhouse so as to not alert any occupants of the building.

He exited the Tauras along with Joe as his team came up to him. He looked at Clinton Jones and ordered,

"Jones, I want you to lead the officers and surround the farmhouse. Not a single way of escape should be left unguarded. We both know how slippery James and Keller, both can be... And yes, don't do anything unless I give a green single."

Jones agreed, " Okay boss!" He turned and left towards the van to gather the team.

Agent Diana Berrigan spoke, " You ready boss?"

Peter let out a deep breath of air and nodded and turned to Joe, " Alright, listen to me Joe, me and Diana are going in. But.." Joe raised his eyebrow skeptically waiting for Peter to continue.

"But I want you to go and sit in the car."

"What?" Joe exploded instantly, " No ways, I am coming with you two and that's final." He crossed his arm and stood challenging Peter to change his mind.

Peter sighed and wondered unconsciously, ' Why in the world do I have to deal with kids like these? First Neal and now this kid standing there in front of him.' He looked at Diana, who was smiling knowingly waiting for his answer.

Peter turned his eyes to Joe and spoke, " Look I know you are very brave Joe, and you want to help but things in there could get pretty ugly.." Joe started to open his mouth to protest but Peter raised his hand to silence him and continued, " Joe, I have promised your father that I would bring you back safe and sound. Those people inside, they are very dangerous, so please just do as I say.. please."

Joe kept quiet for long seconds and both Peter and Diana thought that he was about to deny Peter's request but then he spoke, " Alright, I will stay in the car."

Peter relaxed, "Thank you." He waited until Joe was seated back in his Tauras. He then motioned Diana to follow him to the farmhouse. They were at the front door within seconds. Their eyes met and they nodded. Peter reached for the doorknob and prayed, 'Please Neal be there, Please.' The door was not locked so they entered stealthily with guns ready in their hands.

As soon as they entered through the door, Peter was met by a horrid scene. Matthew Keller stood with his back to the door with a gun in his hand. Another mountain of a man also had his back to them. Probably Raees, Peter thought. Someone was sitting on the chair but those two were blocking his view. But he didn't have to second guess who that person was, it had to be his friend Neal. He couldn't see James anywhere.

And then Keller spoke coldly, "Goodbye Caffrey!"

Peter's heart clenched in fear at those dreadful words and he reacted quickly before Keller could fire the shot and fired his own gun. The room exploded in loud bang as the bullet hit its target and Keller automatically dropped his gun as he felt searing pain in his gun holding hand where the bullet had grazed it. He cried out at the sudden pain and whirled around to check out the source of his pain even as Peter shouted "FBI, Freeze!" Raees turned around too.

*****.

Neal's eyes were closed. He waited for the final pain, that final push that would free him of everything. He heard Keller say, "Goodbye Caffrey!" And he thought, 'This is it.' His ears then filled with the loud noise as the gun was fired. He waited for the pain but it never came. He actually wondered whether it was because he was already engulfed in such overwhelming pain that he didn't feel the bullet burn. Then he heard Keller's cry of pain and then the most beautiful words( he would definitely laugh later on for thinking them as beautiful because never in his criminal life he had related those words to beautiful), "FBI, Freeze!"

But then he thought the words were beautiful to him because they were uttered by that one person who meant so much to him. Those words belonged to his handler, his best friend Peter Burke. He forgot his entire pain momentarily at the sound of his friend. His friend had not left him, he had come to save him, he had found him, like he always did. But then he thought that Peter's voice was a delusion, a trick that his mind was playing with him.

He tried opening his eyes to confirm if Peter was really there, but then suddenly he let out a earth shattering scream as he was submerged in gut wrenching pain because the knife that was still stuck deep into his thigh which he had completely forgotten about was pulled out violently. His vision darkened, tears of pain leaked out and then the next thing he knew was that he felt the familiar metal of knife pressed to his throat.

******.

Keller cried out in pain and whirled around to see Special Agent Peter Burke and Agent Diana Berrigan standing there at the entrance with guns in their hands.

After that things happened very quickly, Keller reacted way too quickly for Peter as soon as they faced each other and immediately went to Neal and pulled out the knife mercilessly that was still embedded in Neal's thigh, eliciting an ear piercing scream of pain from his captive and went to stand behind him and held the knife to Neal's throat. This made Peter rooted to his foot.

On the other side at the same time, Raees' hand went straight to his pocket to retrieve his own gun but then Diana was there in a flash thinking that Peter would handle Keller and manhandled him to a kneeling position and cuffed his hands behind him. She stood there with her gun pointed at his head. "Don't do anything stupid or I will blow your brains out." She commanded. Raees muttered a curse under his breath, even if Diana heard it, she ignored him. She heard a heart wrenching scream from Neal and then turned her eyes towards Neal and gasped.

*****.

Peter finally got to his friend's face after his kidnapping. He couldn't held back a gasp that escaped his mouth. His friend was such a horrific sight. Not a single visible place was left on his body that was not covered in blood. Though his face was covered in blood, Peter could make out that the skin was deathly white. He could also see that his friend was having difficulty in keeping his eyes open, they were more close than open.

Other than the emitting the scream of pain, Neal was quiet. He wasn't making any smart comments. He still hadn't acknowledged that he knew that Peter was here. But still Peter was relieved beyond belief because his friend was still breathing. Then dread pooled at the pit of stomach as a question automatically cropped up in his mind, 'He's alive, but for how long?' He was brought back to the present by Keller's voice.

"So you finally come huh, Burkie. You know your pet here had given up on you. But I must say that you proved him wrong." Keller's voice was dripping was malice. He purposely pushed the tip of the knife into Neal's throat. Neal whimpered and it tugged at Peter's heart.

Peter lurched forward and was only a foot away from them. He still had his gun pointed at Keller. He glanced at Diana to make sure that she at least had the muscle man cornered. He was satisfied with what he saw and flicked his eyes back on Keller, he was trying his hardest not to avert his eyes from Keller to Neal. He knew if his eyes went to Neal, he wouldn't have the strength to stand on his legs because his knees would buckle under the heavy weight of guilt and despair. His friend was such an gruesome scene and it was all his fault. All his fault because he just hadn't come earlier.

Gearing himself, Peter spoke, " Give it up Keller, it's over. My team has this place surrounded. There's no escape. "

"You better drop your gun, Burke, I'm sure you wouldn't want me to hurt your pet anymore than I already have, right?" Keller spoke as if Peter hadn't said anything. He pressed the knife little more in, and Neal hissed in pain.

Anger flared in Peter, " Stop it! Stop it! Hasn't he suffered enough?" His eyes involuntarily went to his friend and they burned as tears threatened to leak out.

Keller smiled, " Hmm.. I can't really say.. Why don't I check it out how much enough is enough for him, huh? What do you say, Burke?" He pushed the knife furthermore and Neal moaned in agony as more blood poured out.

Peter paled, " Stop it! " Diana took a step forward but Peter motioned her to stay put, they couldn't risk Neal's life.

Neal suddenly opened his pain ridden eyes which kept fluttering. But then his eyes managed to look into the warm brown eyes of Peter. According to him Peter looked angry, terrified? He couldn't tell. But he was here, he had come, his friend was here and he would definitely save him. He croaked, " Help me..Peter..please.." His eyes fluttered close.

Peter's heart stopped at those words. Never he had imagined that Neal would ever beg. Never had he imagined his friend to be this vulnerable. Once again he was consumed with guilt, guilt that this was all because of him, all because he couldn't find Neal sooner. Neal's eyes were now closed but he couldn't say whether his friend was conscious or not. But he hoped that he was unconscious so that he wouldn't see how helpless Peter was right now.

Keller ordered, " You know what to do Burke. Lower your weapon!"

Peter didn't argue with that anymore and immediately put down his gun. Keller seemed satisfied. He withdrew the knife from Neal's throat and cut the rope across his chest and pulled him up on his feet. Neal would have crumpled in a heap but Keller caught him tightly. He held Neal in front of him and placed one hand on his arm and other snaked around his throat with the knife.

Neal groaned, he tried to open his eyes and managed to open them to just slits. He was aware that Keller was holding him but he was no longer unaware of the knife pressed at his throat. He saw through the haze of anguish that Peter was still standing in front of him. He couldn't understand why he was just standing, why wasn't he helping him in relieving his pain. Why wasn't he doing something about Keller? He stuttered, "Peter?"

Peter just stood there doing nothing. He knew if he did anything to help Neal, Keller would kill him on the spot and he couldn't afford that. So even when Neal called out his name, he just stood there. Even though Neal's voice went straight to his heart, he just stood there.

Keller saw this and spoke, his voice full of malice, " See I told you Neal, didn't I? Peter would never waste his time on a criminal like you. Didn't I?"

Peter burned with anger, he opened his mouth to tell Neal that Keller was lying, but Keller motioned him to remain silent and waved the knife threateningly. He closed his mouth shut and fisted his palms. Keller was playing with Neal's mind and he couldn't do anything. He was disgusted with himself.

Neal's heart thudded painfully. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe that Peter just stood there and let Keller inflict pain in him. His Dad's words came rushing to him, 'You are a criminal Neal, always were, always will be, Peter Burke would never have anything to do with you.' He blinked away the tears forming in his eyes. His father was correct, Keller was correct too, no one cared for him, then why would Peter be any different. But it still hurt. It hurt so much.

*****.

Keller turned slightly to Diana and spoke, " Uncufff him, NOW!"

Diana shifted on her foot but didn't make a move to uncuff Raees which angered Keller. He suddenly whacked the blunt part of the knife on Neal's head. Neal's vision darkened and his head pounded viciously but miraculously he remained conscious but not aware of the ongoing situation at all and trapped in his world of pain, letting his entire weight rest on Keller.

Peter unconsciously stepped forward to reach Neal but the tip of the knife had once again found Neal's throat so he stopped. He turned to Diana and spoke, " Uncuff him, Diana."

Diana nodded and reluctantly removed the cuffs from Raees' wrists. Raees got up and streched his muscles and then turned to Diana, " I think I will take this." He said and snatched away the gun from her hand and also took away his own gun from her pocket and smirked. Diana wanted nothing but to wipe it off with her one punch but she remained still for the sake of Neal.

Raees then strolled towards Keller and stood beside him and streched out his hand to him one of the guns. Keller quickly threw away the knife and gripped the gun and pressed it behind Neal's neck. Still Neal was unaware of what was going on. He was drifting in and out of consciousness only standing because of Keller's hold on him.

Peter had enough , he just couldn't take all this torture anymore. He took a deep breath and spoke to Keller, " You can go Keller, I will order Jones to back out.. You and him" motioning towards Raees, " are free to go..just please let Neal go.. Please, he needs to be in a hospital otherwise he won't survive, please.."

Keller laughed mirthlessly at Peter, " You really think I am an idiot, don't you Burkie?.. I know that as soon as I let go of him" he jabbed the gun hard into Neal's neck to indicate him, " you and your team will have us arrested within seconds. He's my leverage, Burke!"

Peter couldn't let that happen. He just couldn't let Keller and his henchman walk away with Neal still at their mercy. He desperately tried to come up with something that would let them leave Neal but his mind was just blank. He turned to Diana who had her eyes on him. From the look she was giving him, Peter knew that even she didn't have a clue as to how to rescue Neal without hurting him any further. His eyes locked into Keller's as he spoke again, desperate,

"You have my word Keller. Nobody will even touch you. You can walk out of here without any trouble. I give you my word that you will not be followed." He knew as an FBI agent, he just couldn't let these two criminals walk away but Neal was severely injured and was in need of a hospital urgently. He was willing to do whatever he could to help his friend, even if it meant breaking a few FBI rules.

Keller his head and clucked his tongue, " I don't trust you Burke. I will leave and I will walk away free but Neal's going to come with us." He tightened his grip on Neal who was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings, winced in pain.

Raees spoke to Keller, " I think we should leave, delaying will only complicate our freedom. "

Keller nodded and walked forward dragging Neal along with him who protested slightly and met Peter's eyes, " P..Peter..." begging him to help him and Peter just wanted to rip Neal away from Keller and take him some place safe but he was helpless. Raees followed them both. " You will lead us Peter" he then motioned Diana to stand beside Peter.

Diana nodded and went to stand with Peter whose gut feeling was telling him that the things were rapidly going to go from bad to worse. He made up his mind, he just was not going to let Neal leave with Keller.

Keller commanded, " Call your team off Burke, now! "

Peter simply nodded knowing that he didn't have much option before calling Jones, " Jones I want you to gather back the team and leave."

"Peter.. Is everything alright? We have not even caught Keller and James?"

Peter sighed, " Please Jones , don't ask anything now, just get the team and leave."

Jones noted the tension in Peter's voice and decided to comply with him, though he had no intention of leaving the place entirely. "Okay boss as you say." He said and disconnected the call. He knew that whoever was in the farmhouse would check out whether he left or not, so he decided to go away from the farmhouse and go sit in the van and be on the lookout for Keller, James or even the fellow named Raees.

*****.

Raees strolled up to the window to check whether Peter's team had left. After he was sure that they had gone he motioned Keller to go ahead. Keller nodded and gestured Peter to walk of out the door first. Peter complied and walked out with Diana following him.

Keller then dragged Neal along with him whose eyes were fixed on Peter. Neal knew something was wrong, something was terribly wrong, Keller still had his hold on him and Peter was not doing anything to save him. His fuzzy mind had not yet registered the gun behind his neck. His mind just kept confirming him that he worthless and Peter was here but not to save him.

Raees too complied and followed them out. As soon as all four were out, Keller spoke, " Keep walking Burke. You too Berrigan, my car is parked a little further, no tricks alright!"

Peter nodded , his mind thinking about any possibilities that might help him save Neal. He was still lost in his thoughts when suddenly a brick whizzed past him and hit Keller's gun holding hand. Keller automatically dropped the gun in surprise and his hold on Neal loosened and Neal went down to his knees.

*****.

Joseph Miller was fiddling with the radio when his eyes suddenly went to Jones who along with his team was getting into the van. His eyes roamed around everywhere thinking that Peter Burke had successfully caught the criminals and rescued Neal. He couldn't see anyone. He realised something was wrong and then without wasting anymore time, he got out of the car and ran carefully towards the farmhouse not alerting Jones. Neal had helped him escape, he was going to make sure that he gave all the help he could to save him.

When he reached at the farmhouse, he ducked to hide himself behind a latge tree trunk as he saw Peter and Diana exiting the house followed by Neal and two others, whom he didn't recognise, but quickly realised that they were the goons. He gasped softly when he saw guns in their hands and decided to do something about it. His eyes fell upon a brick, he quickly picked it up and aimed at the guy holding Neal and launched it.

*****.

Peter reacted quickly and went for Keller as Diana had acted reflexively and went for Raees. She had knocked out the gun from Raees' hand who was also distracted by the flying brick and was now engaged in a fierce fight, trying to get in a punch here or there at Raees.

Neal was still on his knees, clutching his head with both his hands, willing the dizziness to stop. He blinked his eyes rapidly to clear his vision. He tried getting on his feet but failed miserably and he was on the ground lying on his back. He once again tried getting up and managed to balance his weight on his knees. His eyes were still foggy but he could make out Peter tackling Keller.

Peter lashed out his foot and hit Keller on the knee and he went down hard. Keller tried to get up but Peter straddled him and punched his face and then delivered another smack to his opponent but then Keller kneed him in the abdomen and Peter's breathing laboured. Keller threw him off on the ground and smacked him hard on the head. Peter got to his knees and Keller hit again. And again. Peter saw stars and his head started spinning like a top. He lay there on his knees, both hands at the side of his head and eyes closed. He was trying his best on to loose consciousness.

Keller took advantage of Peter's vulnerable position and went for his gun. His eyes darted around the ground everywhere to look for his gun and he smiled when he saw it a couple of feet away. He walked towards it, his eyes set on it and picked it up and aimed at Peter.

****.

Neal saw through his blurry vision Peter tackling Keller. He saw him kicking Keller in the knee and bringing him down hard on the ground. But he knew how dangerous Keller could be, he had to help Peter.

He tried to get on his feet again. He managed this time even though his injured thigh felt excruciatingly painful. He closed his eyes. He swayed dangerously, his legs almost gave out but the sheer adrenaline to reach Peter and help him kept him glued on his feet. He opened his eyes and to his horror he saw Keller nearing a gun that was lying on the ground and Peter was on his knees swaying. He stumbled painfully towards his friend as fast as he could and tried calling out his name but he just could manage to whisper it as he watched Keller pick up the gun and aim for Peter.

*****.

Keller aimed the gun at Peter and smiled gloatingly and fired the shot. Diana who had pinned Raees under her knees was startled by the sound of the gun shot. She turned around in the direction of the noise and she gasped.

Clinton Jones along with Joe arrived at the scene the same time with the team and shouted in the direction of Keller, "FBI, drop your weapon! " Keller turned to Jones but then smiled triumphantly, his gun had done the job.


	13. Chapter 13

**A million thanks to all those reading this story. You guys are bestest :-)**

 **I'm not a doctor and really don't know anything about it so all the mistakes are mine and I'm really sorry for that.**

 **A many happy returns of the day to MATT BOMER. May he have the best birthday ever :-D**

 **Those who haven't seen him yet in AHS, do see him..he is a visual treat :-)**

...

Peter Burke was on his knees. He was swaying dangerously and was afraid that he would kiss the ground any minute. He held his head between his hands to stop the spinning. He tried his hardest not to loose consciousness and tried opening his eyes. However he failed at the first attempt. But then succeeded on the second. His eyes immediately zeroed in on Keller who was standing a couple of feet away from him and had a gun trained on him.

He gasped softly. Blame it on the sudden shock of seeing the gun pointed at him or his weak physical condition, Peter was glued to the spot. His mind didn't even try moving out of the gun's range, he just closed his eyes. His first thought went to El, his beautiful and amazing wife. He wished he could have been able to at least let her know how much he loved her, just one last time.

His second thought went to his friend Neal. What would happen to him if he himself died? His friend would definitely not survive. Peter wished desperately that the things had gone better than this. He thought that if he were to die, at least he should have been able to save his friend.

With these thoughts Peter waited for the bullet to struck him. He then heard the shot fired by the gun and waited for the inevitable pain. He waited and waited, and seconds passed but he didn't feel any other pain other than the pain in his head, which was pounding fiercely. He then heard Jones' shout. 'FBI.. Drop your weapon!"

Peter sighed in relief. If Jones was here with the team then everything was going to be in control. Peter then slowly opened his eyes and to his terror he saw that Neal was kneeling in front of him, his back was facing Peter. He was trembling slightly. Peter's dizzy mind was instantly alert. His heart thumped painfully in his chest threatening to explode any second. His brain was telling him what had happened, why Neal was kneeling in front of him but his heart just didn't want to accept it. He placed a shaky hand on his friend's shoulder and was stunned at the heat radiating from it but then he croaked, " Neal.."

...

Neal kept stumbling towards his friend as fast as he could. He knew Keller would go ahead and kill Peter. He wouldn't hesitate even for a second. Even though his dimmed fever ridden mind kept telling him that Peter was not here for him, that he was worthless, he just couldn't let his friend die. El would kill him on the spot. And who was he kidding with, how could he survive if Peter lost his life and that too because it was Neal's enemy that did it in the first place. No! He wouldn't let that happen. Never!

He threw himself in front of Peter as he saw Keller aim the shot and prayed that the bullet had hit him and not Peter. He was on his knees when he heard the gunshot. He didn't feel any pain at first and he wondered if the bullet had indeed missed him but then he bowed his head down and saw that the front of his already blood stained shirt was darkening in crimson rapidly. Then he felt pain. Such hot burning pain that he thought his insides would explode because of it. Most of the pain seemed to be radiating from his chest. His hand automatically went to his chest where the bullet had hit. Blood was seeping through it. He started trembling. Then he felt a shaky hand on his shoulder and his friend's anguished voice, 'Neal.'

Neal turned his head slightly to look into Peter's eyes but his vision darkened quickly and he lost all the awareness and fell forward. He would have hit the ground but Peter's strong arms caught him. He gently manoeuvred Neal so that his friend was half in his lap, the right side of his body pressed against Peter's front. Neal's head lolled against Peter's heart.

Peter was shell shocked to see the blood seeping out of his friend's chest. He quickly pressed down hard on the wound with his right hand to staunch the blood flow but it kept seeping through his fingers. He kept muttering, ' What did you do Neal? What did you do?' Neal suddenly opened his eyes. Those blue eyes were filled with engulfing pain. Neal adjusted his vision and saw through a blur that Peter was staring back at him and then Neal and relief coursed through him, he could finally tell Peter what he wanted to tell him and so he spoke, " S..sorry." and was gone back into the world of darkness.

Peter let out a horrified gasp and spoke with fear evident in his voice, " Neal, no! Please wake up, please.." But Neal remained still and motionless. Peter gently laid him on the ground. Then to his utter horror Peter realised that Neal had stopped breathing. He yelled, " Neal!" He frantically began to resuscitate Neal. He forced air down Neal's throat with mouth to mouth breathing. Neal felt hot, very hot. And he then placed his hands on Neal's chest and started chest compressions. "One..Two..Three..Four..Five.." He counted and breathed for Neal again and waited but Neal didn't stir.

'Come on breathe Neal.' He again blew more air in Neal's mouth after he counted till five as he pumped Neal's chest. He knew he was also letting more blood seep from the chest wound but he had to make sure that Neal was breathing on his own. Neal remained deathly still. Peter yelled, tears unconsciously rolling down his eyes, " You can't die, Neal! You can't!' He began the process the third time and barely heard the sirens in the background, he didn't notice that Jones was beside him. He was only intent on bringing Neal back.

...

Jones had been sitting in the van when Joseph Miller had come running to him. Joe had informed him that two guys whom he didn't know about had taken Neal hostage at gun point and Peter and Diana were there too. Jones was out in a flash and had led the team straight to the farmhouse. He also had made a call to 911 and asked for a medical team asap because Joe had also told him that Neal was in dire straits. He reached the farmhouse just as Keller fired a shot from his gun. He yelled, " FBI..drop your weapon." He turned to see where the bullet had hit and his breath hitched.

Keller turned to him and smiled triumphantly, his gun had done the job. He had aimed the gun at Peter, fully intending to kill him but then Neal had jumped in front of him and taken the shot. He couldn't have asked for more.

Jones was to his side even before he could blink and had him cuffed. He had read him his rights. On the other side Diana too had Raees back in cuffs again with the help of her fellow agent. Both Keller and Raees were led to the van but not before Keller taunted Peter, " It seems Burkie, you couldn't save your pet after all!" But Peter never heard him. His world at present revolved around Neal only.

The paramedics team arrived and went straight to the prone body of Neal after Jones gestured towards him. He then approached Peter who was desperately trying to revive Neal.

...

Jones crouched down beside Peter and called out his boss who was still engrossed in saving Neal. " Boss!" But Peter didn't hear him and continued blowing air in Neal's mouth. Jones spoke more loudly, "Peter! "

Peter stopped and shouted back at Jones, " No! He is not dead! He cannot die!"

Jones yelled back, " He WILL.. If you don't let them help him, boss!" His voice then softened, " Let them help boss."

Peter finally registered that the paramedics were here and they had already set the defibrillator. He let Jones pull him up and get out of the way of the medical staff so that they could work on Neal easily. Then they shocked him once. But the light remained red. Then again and Peter sagged in relief when the light turned green and one of the medic shouted, "We got him!"

Peter watched as the team lifted Neal carefully on to a stretcher and strapped him. The paramedics had intubated him and also started IV on his both arms. Peter reached the waiting ambulance before the medics started loading Neal. Once Neal was loaded Peter said, "I'm going with him." His voice left no doubt in the mind of the medic that Peter won't accept any other answer except yes.

They simply nodded and let Peter climb up the ambulance. He immediately placed his hand on Neal's arm just to feel the comfort of his presence. The van doors locked and it took off to the hospital.

...

Peter Burke didn't know how long had he been sitting in the waiting room for any news on Neal. Neal had crashed again in the ambulance and the EMTs had brought him back. On arriving the hospital, Neal had crashed again and the medics had to work hard again to bring him back. Then he had been sent to the surgery and Peter was told to sit in the waiting room. They would inform him about any news on Neal as soon as they could.

So Peter sat there waiting for the news on Neal. He really didn't care about the time. His mind was swirling with so many thoughts. He was bubbling with so many emotions. He barely registered his wife El coming to the hospital. He didn't really remember the warm hug of hers that he was engulfed in. He really didn't remember the soothing words that she spoke. He barely felt El's calming presence when she sat next to him.

No. Peter only had one thing on his mind. Only one thing. That this was all his fault. If only he had found Neal sooner, if only he had taken the bullet, then everything would have been different. The final outcome would have been different. Neal would have been saved. He wouldn't have been in the surgery now fighting against death. If only Peter had found him earlier. The guilt was becoming overpowering, and then suddenly he couldn't breathe. He needed to get out of here.

He turned to his right and looked into his wife's eyes and spoke, " El.. El.. I.. I.. Need to use the restroom.. I will be back." Peter had barely finished speaking and he jolted out of his seat and almost ran to the restroom. El just sat there for a few seconds and stared at his retreating back. She knew her husband was hurting and alone time wasn't in his best interest. She sprang up from her seat and ran after him. She caught up with him in the corridor just outside the restroom. "Peter..honey!" She called out.

Peter was suddenly wrapped up in a warm hug by his wife. El opened her mouth to speak but Peter beat her to it and spoke, " Please El don't say anything..please." His voice shook.

El nodded, snuggling further into Peter and said, " I won't.. Just stay with me, okay?" Peter reluctantly agreed and together they both went back into the waiting room. They sat in each other's embrace for a long time each hoping that any news on Neal be out soon and dreading at the same time about it.

...

A few hours later Peter and El were approached by the doctor who was in charge of Neal. He looked grim and Peter's heart plummeted at that look. He knew El was fearful of the news too by the way she was clutching his arm tightly unconsciously. He waited for the doctor to speak because he didn't think he'd have the strength to ask anything about Neal.

The doctor looked at the couple and their worried faces. He could tell by their faces that they were very close to the person on the operating table. But this reaction was very different from what he had expected. He was told that the patient was a CI and the person bringing him was his handler. Never in his life had he seen this type of Handler CI relationship. The way these couple were worried about his patient, he could have sworn that they were behaving as if they were his parents.

The doctor hated his profession at times like these when he had to convey bad news to the people about their loved ones. He took a deep breath and spoke, " Hello I'm Dr. Grant Collin. I'm the one that operated the patient. "

Peter nodded and managed to ask, " How is he?"

Dr. Collin sighed and replied, " He's alive.."

Peter's heart constricted. He understood the underlying BUT in the sentence of the doctor. Neal was alive and he was very relieved but he knew how much he had suffered. He knew there was much more to come. He didn't think he could ask about it and to his pure relief the doctor continued.

"The patient's .." Dr. Collin started to say but was interrupted by Peter and El both talking simultaneously.

"His name is Neal.." Both Peter and El shared a look and then turned to the doctor challenging him to say anything against it but Dr. Collin just smiled. He understood people's reaction under stress.

"Of course. Neal was brought in here with a gun shot wound to his chest. He had arrested twice on the way here but thankfully no damage to the brain was done due to the lack of oxygen because of that. His blood pressure was dangerously low. The bullet missed the heart by millimetres and he lost a lot of blood. We managed to remove the bullet successfully without any complications."

Peter only nodded waiting for the doctor to continue and the doctor did continue, " We have removed the bullet but his problems are far from over. He has sustained a massive blood loss and the bullet wound to the chest isn't the only reason for it. He has a severe knife wound to his left thigh which also has accounted for the blood loss. " El gasped. Peter hadn't explained her anything about the condition of Neal. Peter had barely acknowledged her presence.

Dr. Collin spoke again, " There has been some fairly extensive damage to the muscles but we were able to patch it. Though I must say he will limp for sometime but with proper physiotherepy and passage of time, it should heal without any permanent damage. His wrists are also severely damaged, most probably because of being tied for too long. They are infected too but we cleaned the area and wrapped them up. They will heal eventually though there will be some scarring. " He paused to give some time to his audience.

He continued, " Neal has also suffered some lacerations to his face and chest area. I believe it was caused by a knife too but the cuts are shallow and didn't require stitches. They will heal gradually without any scarring. His neck also has a knife wound which was required to be stitched and I am afraid that though the scar will fade but it won't go away completely. " Doctor paused again, he knew the list of injuries was causing distress in the couple so he gave them a moment to gather themselves.

Peter spoke with much difficulty than he had expected, " What about the various bruises that he sported on his face?" He had seen Neal's face and knew how it looked with various other cuts and gash on his forehead too.

"Yes, I am coming to that." Dr. Collin answered. " Neal has severe bruising to almost his entire body. They will no doubt be extremely painful for some time but thankfully there are no signs of internal bleeding. So we are relieved in that case. But yes, his ribs are severely bruised and one of them have a hairline fracture. We have tapped them and given a little time will heal completely. We have kept him on the ventilator at present to help him breathe easy."

Peter asked again, " The gash on his forehead.."

"The gash Neal has suffered is most probably because of hitting the head hard, it could be from anything. He also has a small bump at the back of his head. He has suffered a mild concussion because of these. But it will heal. Other than that he's severely dehydrated. We have started giving him fluids for that. We have also started to replenish the lost blood by way of transfusion. He also has lost a little weight." The doctor stopped again. El's face was streaked with tears and Peter looked like if he got any other bad news, he himself would have to be admitted into the hospital.

Dr. Collin took a deep breath and spoke, "You want me to continue or you'd like me to wait until you are ready?"

Peter clutched El's hand more tightly and stuttered, " No ..we would like you to continue."

The doctor nodded, " Okay.. Neal has a gunshot wound to his right shoulder. It appears to be more than couple of days old. While the bullet has been removed, I'm afraid to say that it was not removed in best of hygienic conditions. The area has been severely infected and because it was not treated in time he has developed a systemic infection. Another reason of infection is some bacterial infection found in his stomach, it might be because he might have consumed dirty water. We have started him on large doses of antibiotics to fight off the infection. We will know about it after a few hours.

"He is, because of the infection suffering from a very high fever. That is our major concern now. We had taken his temperature a few minutes back and it was recorded 105. It is very dangerously high. We are also keeping him wrapped in the cooling blanket to reduce the fever along with the antibiotics. We will be monitoring his fever time to time. If it doesn't reduce, I'm afraid it could lead to various other complications."

El interrupted, "What complications, Dr. Collin?"

"Seizures, brain damage, coma ..death.." Dr. Collin replied grimly. " I'm so sorry. But we will do everything that is in our hands."

Peter couldn't believe this was happening. They had gotten Neal to the hospital. He had to get better from here but the doctor kept talking about the injuries and complications. He couldn't fathom the fact that even after getting Neal to the hospital, he could die. He turned away from the doctor and let go off El's hand and sat heavily on one of the chairs. He bowed his head down and held it between his hands. El came and occupied the chair next to him and placed her hand on his back and rubbed gently giving him the silent support.

"I will take my leave now. If you have any other questions, you can call me. I will keep you posted on Neal's condition." Dr. Collin said. He really didn't know what else to say to the worried couple. He started to leave but stopped and spoke, " It would be in the best interest if Neal's family was notified. "

Thinking about James Bennett , Peter's blood started to boil. Again he prayed, just five minutes with him in a room, just five minutes and I will make him go through the same hell Neal was going through. Peter then dropped his hands and looked up to meet the doctor's eyes. "His family is already here Doctor." He spoke resolutely.

Dr. Collin just nodded and turned to leave but this time he was stopped by the voice of Peter. " Dr. Collin.. I want to.. I mean.. I mean can I see him? "

The doctor sighed, " I am sorry but Mr. Burke.."

"Just once ..please Dr. Collin. I need to see him ..please " Peter begged. He knew this was not him. He was never this weak but the list of Neal's injuries and the possibility that his friend could die had shattered him. He didn't care about begging anymore.

Dr. Collin spoke in a gentle voice, " He is still in OT. We generally do not allow anybody other than the hospital staff in there because it causes a hindrance to their work but I will see what I can do about it." Peter nodded , genuinely thankful to the doctor.

"If you will wait here, I will be back to let you know about seeing Neal, alright." Dr. Collin smiled.

Peter nodded again and sagged into his wife and stayed there. Her warm embrace was very soothing even though his mind was filled with guilt and fear.

...

Peter and El sat in the waiting room for long hours. The night was fading away and the sun was rising slowly. The doctor had not yet come back to let Peter meet Neal. And that had been a couple of hours ago. Jones and Diana had visited the hospital after the doctor had left to know about the condition of Neal. They had also told Peter that Keller and Raees were kept in the FBI building for interrogation. Peter had just nodded.

Jones later had left the hospital promising Peter that he would return again in the morning. Diana got out of her seat to leave too but Peter spoke to her, " Diana.."

Diana looked into Peter's eyes and spoke, " Yes boss?"

"James is going to be there at the park in the morning. I don't want him to escape. I want him caught. Make sure he is caught." Peter's voice was hard and cold.

Diana nodded, " Of course Boss, James will not escape. I will make no mistake."

Peter spoke again, " After you have caught him.. Bring him here first."

Diana looked confused, " Here?" Peter nodded but otherwise remained silent. Diana knew better than to question Peter so she nodded too and left.

And that was an hour ago. Peter and El now watched the sun rising slowly but not really looking at it. Both their minds only on Neal. Suddenly the silence was shattered by the ringing of Peter's cell. He answered without looking at the caller name.

"Burke."

"Did you find him Suit?" Mozzie asked, concern clearly could be heard in his voice.

"Yes.. Mozzie, we found him. " Peter answered in a tired voice.

A long silence streched between them. Finally Mozzie spoke, " It is bad, isn't it Peter?"

Peter didn't answer for a few seconds but then he knew Mozzie deserved to know about Neal too. He was Neal's friend and was his family too.

" Yeah.." Mozzie didn't say anything and disconnected the call. Peter rubbed his hand across his face. Even though Mozzie hadn't said anything, he was sure that the bald guy would definitely come here in the hospital and check on Neal.

Another hour went by and the doctor finally made an appearance. He looked grim.

"The antibiotics have started to perform well against the infection. " Dr. Collin informed the exhausted couple.

Peter nodded and El spoke, " What about his his fever, Dr. ?"

"I'm afraid there's no change in the temperature of Neal. It's been hovering around 105 for several hours and he has suffered a couple of seizures. I'm sorry to say but it seems that he's slipping into coma..."


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you so much guys for reading this story. I love you guys :-)**

 _I'm sorry but I think Neal's slipping into coma_

Those words were ringing in the ears of Peter and El. They could not believe that Neal instead of getting better, was slipping into coma. Dr. Collin had informed them about Neal's condition and also told them to wait for a few hours to know the final result.

El's one hand was still over her mouth in shocked expression while the other was clutching Peter's arm in a death grip. Tears that had dried up while waiting for the news on Neal had started to flow again. Neal was their family. How was one supposed to live if one of the family member suddenly leaves you for good?

She didn't dared look at Peter, she knew how much Neal meant to Peter. This news must have devastated him. She was contemplating on how to face him, how to soothe him, but then Peter spoke, his voice strangely strong.

"Dr. Collin.. I want to see him. "

Dr. Collin shook his head, " He's still in the OT Mr. Burke and we do not allow visitors there. I know I told you that I will look into it but I am sorry that it is not possible."

Peter spoke again, " I just want to see him Doctor, I promise that I won't come in the way of your staff. Please give me a few minutes, please."

The doctor thought about it before finally giving in. After all his patient's condition was poor, he could at least give the ones who loved and cared for him the chance to see him.

"Alright Mr. Burke, you can see him but only for a few minutes. "

Peter nodded vigorously, " Of course Dr. Collin, I won't take much time. Just a few minutes, that's all. "

Dr. Collin nodded and spoke, " Come on I will take you to him."

Peter turned to El and hugged her. El spoke, " Just tell him that we are waiting for him to come home, alright." Her voice was thick because of the tears.

Peter agreed, " Yes hon, will do that. He has to come back and I am sure he will." They parted and El took her seat again while Peter followed the doctor to the OT.

...

Peter wavered in front of the door. In the waiting room he had made up his mind to see Neal. He was going to go inside and give him a piece of his mind. His decision was taken and nothing was going to stop him. But now standing in front of the door, which was the only obstacle in between him and Neal, he suddenly wasn't sure about his decision.

Dr. Collin had warned him before he left him at the door. He had told him what to expect when he entered the room. The doctor had told him that right now Neal was hooked to many machines and wires in order to keep him alive. While it was all necessary, the sight always caused distress in those who were close to the patient. Peter had nodded then, telling the doctor that he was prepared for the worse but now his heart raced and his breath stuttered. He suddenly wasn't sure if he could see Neal in such a vulnerable position.

He stayed at the door for another couple of minutes and was startled by the nurse who suddenly opened the door who was equally surprised to see him standing there. Peter spoke quickly, " Oh.. I am so sorry.."

The nurse relaxed immediately and spoke smiling, " It's okay. I was just going to see the doctor to give him the report on the temperature of the patient that was recorded just seconds ago."

Peter's heart skipped a beat. " How much is it?" Fear evident in his voice.

The nurse shook her head sadly and answered, " I'm afraid it's still around 105 "

Peter gulped and nodded and the nurse left closing the door behind her, to see the doctor. Peter took a deep breath and pushed the door open again and entered.

...

Peter entered the room and instantly stopped short. The room was eerily silent except for the beeping of the machines attached to Neal. He had thought he was prepared for the worst but seeing Neal lying on the bed unconscious while many wires and tube were coming in and out of his body made Peter shudder. His heart ached painfully at the sight of his friend. Neal looked so young so vulnerable so small this way. His breath stuck in his throat. He almost, almost turned away and left but then again his eyes landed on his friend's face and he was automatically drawn towards him.

He shakily placed his hand on top of the cooling blanket wrapped around Neal , where he assumed was his arm. His eyes again went to Neal's face. His face was sweaty and flush. The fever was making itself known. A lone tear escaped Peter's eye and he didn't even raise his hand to wipe it away. He spoke with a shaky voice,

"Hey Neal.." Peter paused, " I am so sorry.. If only I had reached you in time, you wouldn't have been here. I am really very sorry kid." Peter choked on the next words, "You know that I am not good at expressing my emotions.." He waited unconsciously for Neal to say yes, Neal remained unresponsive and even though he knew that Neal wouldn't answer, Peter still was disappointed. He cleared his throat and spoke again,

"Like I just said that I'm not very good at expressing emotions. So you will have to listen to me only once because I am not going to repeat myself, okay.." Peter paused, he knew Neal was unconscious but he thought maybe, maybe if he just lectured him, Neal would get irritated and stop him. So he took a breath and continued,

"Neal, I'm kinda used to having you around kid, not a single day is spent of mine without you. You really can't leave us..me like that and go. Yes.." He chuckled softly, " Yes.. I know you can be a pain in my neck and you are proud of it but you see I'm so used to the pain now that I cannot imagine my life without it. You are family kid, and family doesn't do this to each other, they don't leave you." Peter's eyes watered again. His hand automatically reached Neal's hair and ran his his hand through them.

"Just come back Neal, just wake up, I will give anything, anything you ask for." Peter's eyes inadvertently went to Neal's lower part where he assumed was his ankle hidden beneath the blanket. " Of course the anklet stays...you and me are stuck together." He shook his head slightly and smiled sadly and continued his monologue, " You know I will also let you do that stupid hat trick of yours. You can come at my place at breakfast and I won't get irritated, I will also let you have those badges that come with the cereal boxes. You can even put your legs on top of my desk Neal, I promise I will do anything. Just come back, please." Peter knew he was talking senseless but he just wanted Neal to come back.

Peter then stared down at his unconscious friend. Neal hadn't even twitched a muscle. He remained as motionless as ever. Looking at Neal's face, Peter was wrapped up in a whirlpool of emotions. One prominent feeling that he was overcome with now was that he had always considered Neal a son he never had. Though he never admitted that aloud but in his heart he always felt that Neal was like his son. He just couldn't see his son leave.

He then did one thing that he thought he would have never done it. He bent down and kissed Neal on his forehead. Neal was so warm. He was burning up and Peter's heart ached at this. Neal's fever was not lessening and this scared him a lot. Peter stood up again and placed his hand on Neal's forehead and spoke, " Please don't leave me, son.. Please.. I love you kid.. " Neal remained oblivious and Peter couldn't take it anymore.

He then abruptly turned and reached the door and opened it to leave but then he turned back and his eyes landed on Neal's face again. " Better don't keep El waiting, son.. Don't keep me waiting.. We are both waiting for you to come home." Tears flowed down Peter's face again and he wiped them with his hand and composed himself and left.

...

Peter had again taken his seat next to El in the waiting room. They both sat with arms intertwined but Peter had laid his head at the back of the chair and closed his eyes. El didn't think he was sleeping but she let him be. After what seemed like hours Dr. Collin came back to them. He cleared his throat to gain attention of his audience. Peter raised his head and opened his eyes. He and El immediately sprang up from their chairs and waited with bated breath for the doctor to continue.

Dr. Collin's face was hard to read and Peter's heart was in his mouth as he stared at the doctor's face. The doctor smiled as he spoke and Peter's heart fluttered in hope.

" I will be blunt, Me and my staff had totally given up on Neal. His fever was increasing at an alarming rate but sometimes miracle do happen. His fever has finally broken down." Both Peter and El smiled in relief and both felt they would faint because of the happiness.

"It's still around 104 and is still high but it's going down and I am very optimistic that he will make recovery. He's still unconscious at present and will be under heavy dosages of antibiotics to fight off the infection and the fever for the next 24 hours. "

Peter nodded and asked, " Will he be alright, doctor?"

"Well .. We will know exactly about his condition after he regains consciousness and we are able to conduct tests to confirm that he has not suffered any brain damage. But personally I think he's going to make full recovery." The doctor had barely finished talking when he was suddenly wrapped up in a bone crushing hug by Peter.

"Thank you.. Thank you so much, Dr. Collin. " Peter spoke utterly thankful to the doctor for saving his friend's life.

They broke apart and the doctor smiled, " We did all we could Mr. Burke but something tells me that it was because of you that Neal's fever broke." Peter looked at the doctor confused.

"It has proven that even when the patient is unconscious he can listen to everything a person tells him. I'm sure Mr. Burke that whatever you told Neal in there, he listened to each and every word and decided to better come back to you."

Peter didn't know how to react at this so he remained silent. But internally he was thanking Neal for at least listening to him this once. He turned to his wife and hugged her. El then spoke, " He's going to be okay, honey. He's going to come home very soon. "

The doctor spoke again interrupting their conversation, " Neal's not yet regained consciousness and we are not sure when will that happen but I can assure you that he will wake up once he is ready. Also the trauma that his body has suffered might delay it. "

Peter and El both nodded. El then asked impatiently, " When can we see him doctor?"

Dr. Collin answered, " He's still in the OT. We will be shifting him to a private room in an hour. You can meet him then."

" Thank you, doctor.."

"A nurse will come and inform you when Neal is shifted. You have any other questions or doubts, you can call me. " The doctor paused and continued after he received nods of approval. " I shall take my leave now."

"Of course Dr. Collin.." Peter spoke.

...

The Burkes after spending an hour and half waiting for some nurse to come and take them to Neal, didn't think they could wait any longer than they already had and were about to get up go to the reception when a nurse came into the room and spoke,

" Mr and Mrs Burke, the patient has been shifted to a private room. It's down the hall on the left, room no. 406. But please one at a time."

Both Peter and El rushed to see Neal. Though they knew that Neal was still comatose, they just couldn't wait to see him and confirm that he was alive. They had to see it for themselves. They reached the said room and Peter gestured El to go in first.

"Honey, you go in first. I have already seen him. I am sure you want to see him desperately. "

El hugged her husband and spoke, " You sure, hon? You don't want to go in first?"

"I am sure El, you go." El nodded and broke away from her husband and entered the room.

...

Peter was sitting again on the hard chair just outside Neal's room when he spotted Agent Diana Berrigan come in his direction along with two other officers and the one man he hated extremely right now. James Bennett.

Diana came a step forward and spoke, " Boss.. You wanted me to bring him to you first, so he's here. " Though Diana hadn't a slightest clue about why her boss Peter Burke had ordered to bring James Bennett here but she thought that things were going to turn ugly pretty quickly.

Peter Burke bolted from his chair and came and stood right in front of James. It took every ounce of strength in Peter not to plummel James right then and there. Instead he curled his fingers tightly and spoke in a tight voice,

"Hello James."

James Bennett snorted, " Just cut the pleasantries Peter. Why the hell am I here? Don't tell me that you wanted to gloat over this little victory of yours.." He paused and his eyes bore into Peter's. So much hatred oozed from them. Apparently Diana had not informed James about Neal being rescued and at present was being treated in the hospital.

He thought he was caught because of his stupidity. He hadn't been careful when he went to the park to collect Neal's wealth. He thought that the FBI team had caught him because of the murder he had committed, in which Peter had gone to jail instead of him. Agent Diana Berrigan was quiet the entire ride to the hospital. She hadn't told him about anything at all. So he was genuinely surprised when he was brought here in the hospital.

Peter remained dead silent and just stared back at James.

"Answer me Peter! " James shouted. " Why the hell am I here? And why in the world are you at the hospital? Aren't you supposed to be hunting your pet?"

Peter's gaze sharpened, " Neal is not my pet , James!" He gritted his teeth.

James scoffed, " Oh please! He's not even here. So just drop the fake affection act in front of me. I'm not Neal, I know what your real intentions are."

Peter asked in a deadly calm voice, " And what do you think are my intentions?"

"Hah! I'm not liable to answer you. And now I will take my leave. I have no interest in listening to your monologue about how you succeeded in catching me. No jail can keep me for long, Peter! " James growled and turned around to be led away to the van again but Peter's voice stopped him.

" Why did you do this James? Why? Don't you even care in the slightest?"

James turned back and looked confused. He asked, " What are you talking about Peter? "

Peter shook his head and spoke, " Neal.. I'm talking about your son Neal. Why did you do this James? You kidnapped your own son and then left him at the mercy of the one person who hated him most in the world..Keller."

Peter had finally come to know about the entire kidnapping. Jones had interrogated Keller and Raees and both had confessed about everything. Though Jones did mention that Keller and Raees both looked too pleased with the way whole thing went Peter thought it was entirely James fault in the first place that Neal had suffered this much.

Keller had admitted that he had struck a deal with James and planned the whole kidnapping starting with kidnapping Leonard's son Joe first. Peter was infuriated by learning about all this and was determined to see to it that both Keller and his goon rotted in prison and would make sure they would never escape.

James' face again twisted in anger, " Neal is my son! I can and will do whatever I want. Who are you to question me?"

"Your son? Well.. You certainly don't treat him like one, otherwise you wouldn't have sold him to Keller." Peter's voice was hard.

"So what? So what if I left him with Keller. It's not like he can't defend himself. He's a conman, I am sure he must have conned his way of of that place by now."

Peter was getting frustrated with each passing second, " You never cared, did you?"

James laughed, " Really Peter you amaze me with your act, do you seriously think I am gonna fall for this? And why the hell do I have to care about Neal? It's not like he's dead now, is he?"

Anger flared in Peter and he suddenly grabbed James' arm and dragged him into the room where Neal was lying unconscious. Diana followed them in.

...

El was running a hand through Neal's hair and murmuring softly to him. She was telling him to wake up soon so that she could take him home and take care of him when suddenly the door flew open. She was startled to see Peter come in dragging Jame with him. She gasped softly but remained seated in the chair next to Neal's bed.

She asked, "Peter..honey.." But Peter ignored her and came and stood on the opposite side of the bed and forced James to stand next to him.

He whispered harshly, " Look at him James, just look at him. What does he look like to you? Is he alive? Or is he barely clinging to life? "

James was stunned to see his son lying in the bed in the hospital in very bad condition. He had never imagined that he would be seeing his son so soon after he had met him the other day, or was it just yesterday? He thought. He knew what he had done. He knew Keller was dangerous and yet he had walked out of the house leaving his son there despite the fact that he knew Neal was in no condition to fight back.

But he didn't feel remorse. He had never felt remorse when he had killed that cop and never had felt remorse when he left his son when he had shot the senator. He was saddened by this fact. But then he was brought out of his musings by Peter's voice.

" What kind of a father are you James? Who does this to his own son?" Peter's voice was filled with pain.

James turned sharply at Peter. Though he didn't care about Neal , he wasn't going to let outsiders taunt him about it. " I repeat again Peter, Neal is my son. I will decide how I want to treat him. "

El spoke, " How can you say this James? Just look at him, look at your son." She pointed to the unconscious and unaware Neal. " He's such a loving man. He has a heart of gold. How can you be so cold and cruel? How can a parent be so indifferent?"

James faced El and spoke coldly, " Oh now, you will give me advice on how to treat my son? You yourself don't even have a child and you think you can advice me?"

Peter growled, " Leave her out of it, James!"

"Yeah okay, I will leave her out of it. So then what? You will teach me how to be a good father? " James mocked.

"Maybe I will. Neal deserves a father who can actually treat him like a son not not some money lending machine. Who actually loves him. " Peter replied.

"Hah! You mean to say that it's you who actually loves him like a son?" James asked in disbelief.

Peter nodded, " Yes James, I love him just like a father should. Not like you who sold him out for money. Look at him.. He deserves the worlds happiness and what did you give him? Pain and only pain."

James spoke ferociously, " You listen to me Burke, Neal is my son. I will not stand here and let you brag about how much you love him. I know this is all an act. Neal will see it one day too. And you know what? If I want I can kill him too and you won't be able to do anything about it!

Peter lost all control and even before James could understand what was happening, Peter punched him hard across his face and he lost his balance and dropped to the floor, breathing heavily and his nose bleeding.

Peter bent down and grabbed him by his collar and spoke coldly, " Nobody .. You understand..nobody can even think about hurting _my son_ and get away with it." He punched him again. This man had hurt Neal and in return he wanted to inflict just as much pain.

Diana who was silently watching the conversation rushed towards Peter, " Boss.. Boss.. Stop it.."

El too rushed to Peter, " Stop it, honey.. He doesn't deserve your anger too."

Peter controlled himself and spoke dangerously to James, " If you ever come near my son, trust me James, that will be the last day of your life."

...

It had been over a week since he had punched James. Neal's fever had gone. Neal had woken up several times in last week but he wasn't coherent at all. He was totally out of it. Every time he woke up he couldn't remember what he had talked about the last time. He had not even registered Peter and El being there with him. The ventilator had been removed and he was recovering well. The doctor had ruled out any brain damage. So now they were just waiting for Neal to wake up and be coherent enough of his surroundings.

Now after a week Peter had taken the now familiar seat. He had been sitting there for an hour and Neal had just slept. He glanced at Neal who was still sleeping. He yawned and closed his eyes and involuntarily fell asleep. He woke up after half an hour and was surprised to see blue eyes staring at him. Peter jumped from his seat and approached Neal.

"Neal! You are awake! Let me call the doctor! " Peter spoke quickly and then rushed out of the room to call Dr. Collin.

Neal stared at the retreating back of Peter. He was still not thinking coherently. Memories of the past few days came to him in bits and pieces. He remembered Peter being there when Keller had held him. He remembered Peter not doing anything to help him. He remembered his dad's words that he was worthless, he meant nothing to Peter.

Tears formed in his eyes and he shut them tight. When he had woken up and seen Peter there sleeping in the chair next to him. His heart had warmed at the sight. He thought that if Peter was here then he was definitely for him. That he cared for him but then Peter woke up and left quickly even before he could process what he was saying. His dad's words rushed to him again and he thought that he was worthless after all. That Peter was here because he had to watch out for Neal who was a criminal. He was not here because he cared about his friend. Tears flowed through his shut eyes as he thought that he was well and truly alone..


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you so much for reading this story. You guys make my day :-)**

 **Many readers felt that 107 fever was unrealistic. But I want to tell is that whatever I have written is from Google and personal experience. My relative suffered from a 105 fever, he was well conscious and coherent then and is doing absolutely fine now. I wanted to put Neal in a bit more serious position than my relative, hence gave him 107 as I googled and read that brain damage starts from 107. I also wrote that it was a miracle that Neal survived. Sometimes we have to take that leap of faith right? But still don't like upsetting my readers so I have made necessary changes. And I really am sorry for making it difficult for you to read :-)**

 **...**

Neal's eyes were still shut when Peter and Dr. Collin entered the room. They could see that Neal was crying. Peter was next to Neal in seconds. Dr. Collin came and stood on the opposite side of Peter. Peter spoke before Dr. Collin could,

" Neal..Neal.. Are you hurting?" He placed his hand on Neal's arm that was in a sling and to his surprise his friend stiffened at his touch. Neal had never done that in the entire week that he had regained consciousness.

Neal remained silent and his eyes were still closed. His face was still wet because of the tears. Peter glanced at the doctor who nodded and then Dr. Collin spoke,

" Neal..Hi.. I am Grant Collin. Your doctor. We have talked before but every time you wake up you don't seem to remember our conversation. " he smiled even though Neal's eyes were still shut.

"So can you open your eyes for me Neal? I would like to ask you a few questions."

Neal slowly opened his eyes and looked at the doctor. He purposely didn't even flick his eyes towards Peter even though he was completely aware of his friend's hand on his arm.

"There you go. I knew you had the brightest of blue eyes." Dr. Collin said smiling with the purpose of putting his patient at ease.

Neal didn't even attempt to return the smile. He just stared at the doctor. Dr. Collin was not deterred and flashed a light into Neal's eyes and pressed on, " You seem to be more alert today Neal. Are you hurting?"

"Yes... Feels..like ..hit by train.." Neal managed to rasp out.

"Well.. You have come back from the dead..literally.. So it's going to hurt for a while Neal. And we have reduced the medications too so pain may increase at times. " Neal nodded and still kept his eyes on the doctor who was now checking his blood pressure.

" If the pain becomes unbearable then you can always call one of the nurses and ask her to give you some powerful medication, alright. " Neal nodded again.

"You can rest now, everything seems to be fine. You need any help just press the call button, okay. I shall take my leave now." Dr. Collin said and his eyes went to Peter who was hearing the conversation between Neal and the doctor raptly, and spoke,

"Call me if you need me." Peter nodded. Dr. Collin then turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Peter then turned to Neal whose eyes were closed again but Peter knew that he was awake. " Neal, buddy.. "

He was cut off by Neal's voice, " Peter, I really am tired. I want to sleep now. You can go. " His voice was devoid of any emotion.

Peter frowned. But then decided that his friend must be really tired so he spoke softly, " Of course buddy.. You take rest."

Neal felt his eyes begin to burn again. Peter's voice was filled with such compassion that Neal felt guilty about ignoring his friend. He almost, almost opened his eyes to talk to him but his father's words began ringing in his ears so he kept them closed.

After a few minutes he opened his eyes and was surprised to see Peter sitting on the chair. Peter quickly got up and approached Neal,

"Neal, kid..you want something.."

Neal closed his eyes again. " No.. I am fine.." Neal lied. He was sure that Peter would have left the room but to his surprise his friend had not left him. This gesture from Peter confused him but before he could dwell upon that he succumbed to sleep.

 **...**

Peter Burke had come to a conclusion that Neal Caffrey was avoiding him. After Neal had woken up more alert he was repeatedly making excuses to avoid any conversation with Peter. At first Peter thought that his friend was in pain and was really in need of rest so he didn't care much. But then after spending much time in the chair next to Neal, Peter slowly knew how many times his friend would feign sleep and when he was actually sleeping.

Whenever he did that it hurt Peter but he really couldn't force Neal to talk to him if his friend was not interested in talking to him. And so this way Peter Burke had come to a conclusion that Neal was avoiding him because Peter hadn't found him in time. The guilt was eating Peter from inside, he wanted to apologize to his friend but his friend was not giving him any chance at all.

Peter was now sitting outside Neal's room while the nurse was dressing his wounds and cleaning him up. El had just arrived after finishing up her event and was now seated next to Peter.

" You know he never blamed you for not coming earlier, honey."

El's voice startled Peter from his thoughts. He looked into her blue eyes which were so loving and warm. He sighed, " I beg to differ, El. "

El gently rubbed her husband's arm and spoke, " Why don't you talk to him about it?"

"You think I haven't tried? .. I have tried El..but he keeps making excuses. I know.. I know it's my fault that he had to suffer so much and he's still suffering, I can see that but just..just if he would talk to me, I will apologize to him El... Just if he would talk to me.."

"Oh honey.. He will..just give him some time. We know what he has gone through.. Maybe he isn't ready to talk to you yet.."

"But he's hurting El.. And not just physically..I can see that he's hurting mentally too."

El nodded , " You want me to try and talk to him? Maybe he will open up to me.."

Peter rubbed his face with his hand. Why was the kid ignoring him. He knew he was slow in finding him but he had tried so hard. If only Neal could forgive him. " Yeah sure El.. Just let him know we here only for him."

 **...**

Morning sunlight was pouring into the room when Neal opened his eyes next time. He wounds were still hurting him but the pain was bearable. His body was still sore from the beating he had received.

Neal blinked his eyes furiously to free himself from the last clutches of the nightmare because of which he had been woken up. He felt someone's presence next to him and he relaxed immediately knowing that it had to be Peter who had never left him. Even though he was avoiding his friend, even though he knew Peter was just here to watch on him because he was a criminal, he felt safe when his friend was there with him.

But to his utter disappointment when he turned to see his friend's face, he saw that it wasn't Peter who had occupied the chair. It was El. Her presence was soothing but he needed Peter. He quickly turned his eyes away and decided to feign sleep like he always did but he wasn't fast enough.

El looked up from the book that she was reading and saw that Neal was awake. She quickly grasped this opportunity to talk to him. He wasn't going to avoid her this time.

"Hey Neal.. Sweetie, you are awake.." She smiled.

Neal's heart melted at that smile and she instantly reminded him of Ellen. He then didn't have the heart to ignore her. So he replied, " Hey Elizabeth.."

"How are you feeling today dear?"

"Better.. But still sore.."

"I understand.. It will take time but you will heal completely, sweetie. Need anything? "

Neal nodded, " Water.."

"Of course! " El got up from her chair and filled a glass of water and dipped a straw into the glass and came near Neal. Neal sucked in the cool liquid. He never thought water would taste so good. After having his fill, his mouth left the straw and El replaced the glass back. And sat down in the chair again and brought it closer to Neal and placed her hand on his arm.

"Feeling better?" She asked.

Neal nodded, " Where is Peter? " He asked even before he could stop himself. Peter didn't care for him and it shouldn't have bothered him that he was not here but it did bother him and that made Neal feel so stupid.

El smiled, " He's gone home to shower and eat something..he's really not taking good care of himself you know, I had to kick him out from here."

"Oh! " Neal then added, " I am really sorry Elizabeth, because of me you guys are facing so much trouble." He turned his face away from El.

El cupped his chin and turned him to face her again. " Neal.. You can never cause us trouble."

Neal didn't think El was telling the truth and so he asked, " Why are you here? "

El's face screwed in confusion, " Why am I here? For you of course."

Neal shook his head, " No. What I mean is that Peter could have sent other agents to watch over me if he had to leave, why are you here." His voice was starting to shake.

" Why would Peter do that? Why would we do that? Why would we send somebody else?" El asked still confused.

Neal closed his eyes and swallowed hard, " Nothing..nothing.."

El was not going to let go that easy. Definitely something was wrong with Neal and she was going to find that out.

" Neal ..please open your eyes. Please." Neal wasn't going to but El's voice was so warm that he automatically opened his eyes and looked at El.

"Now tell me sweetie, why would we send agents to watch for you? Why wouldn't Peter and I be here when you are in so much pain?"

Neal remained quiet. El sighed. "Neal, you know you're can tell me what is bothering you right? "

Neal spoke so softly that El almost missed the anguished words, " Because I am a criminal and because I am worthless."

El gasped. Her heart broke for the man who meant so much to them. How can Neal think he was worthless?

"How can you think like that Neal? You were a criminal and you definitely aren't worthless, honey."

But Neal wasn't going to let El fool him. He knew what he was. " No. He..he was right."

El asked, " Who was right, Neal? Who are you talking about?" But Neal never answered. He just turned on his left side and closed his eyes. Damn! Those ever present tears were threatening to leak again.

 **...**

El and Peter were talking softly while Neal was asleep. His shoulder and thigh were hurting more than usual and so he had requested the nurse to increase his medication so he could get a peaceful nights sleep. Dr. Collin thought that the shoulder and thigh were healing well and that Neal didn't require higher dose and it was now just a phantom pain that was bothering Neal. But tonight Neal had been adamant about getting higher dose of his medicine.

El glanced at the sleeping man and her heart ached again, she wished she could just take away all the pain of Neal. He didn't deserve all this. She then turned to Peter and whispered,

" Peter I think you have got it all wrong. I don't think that he blames you for anything. "

Peter frowned, " You talked to him?"

"Yes , but we didn't exactly talk about this but he said that he didn't understand why we were here. Why were we so worried about him. "

Peter was really confused on hearing this. He asked, " Why would he say such things, El? ..I mean.. Doesn't he know how he means to us?"

El hesitated, " Um.. He told me that we shouldn't be here because he's a criminal."

"So what? That doesn't change the way we feel about him, El! I have always felt that he's my responsibility. I have always felt that it's my duty to look after him. With time that too has changed, I love him like my own kid now!" Peter whispered fiercely.

El sighed, " Yes Peter I know but did you ever tell Neal that personally? "

Peter's face crinkled in confusion, " No.. But what does that have to do about Neal's behaviour now?"

El wanted nothing but to strangle her husband now. Really her husband could be so naive sometimes. She spoke again, " Peter..honey.. You got those monsters to confess what they did to Neal. But were they telling the entire truth? I mean what if there was more to it?"

Peter looked like finally a bulb had clicked. "Oh dear God! They not only tortured him physically but also mentally. Didn't they? "

El nodded, " Yes Peter, I think the same. Today earlier he told me that..that..we shouldn't be here to take care of him because he was worthless. " Peter was shocked to hear that. " and when I asked him who told him that , he just wouldn't say." She again glanced at sleeping Neal. The motherly instinct in her kicked in and she got out of her chair and approached Neal. She stared at the sleeping con and then leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

" Neal, you are anything but worthless, sweetie."

Peter's eyes watered at the scene and his heart skipped a beat. He was so engrossed in his own guilt that he didn't notice Neal's pain. In the morning he will talk to Neal and let the kid know how much he meant to Peter.

 **...**

Peter had gone back to home to shower and change. Neal was left with El. He then had gone to the bureau first on his way to the hospital. He wanted to check out the progress of the the case filed against James, Keller and his henchman Raees. Their case was very strong. Peter was not going to them live in peace for the rest of their lives.

He reached the hospital after another hour. He had made up his mind. He had to talk to Neal. He had to get his friend's head straight. He had purchased two Italian roasts too to lift his friend's mood. Neal was not going to ignore him today. He was going to solve the differences between them. He parked his Tauras and went in.

 **...**

Peter reached outside Neal's room and murmured a prayer. He prayed that today his friend didn't ignore him. He took a deep breath and entered the room adjusting the two cups of roast. Neal was alone in the room and Peter wondered where El was.

Neal's bed had been inclined so he was now in a sitting position. His right arm was still in the sling. The chest wound and the thigh wound were thankfully hidden under the sheets as usual. His wrists were covered with bandages. The various cuts and bruises on his face were starting to fade but the bruise on his neck was visible to Peter even from a distance. This made him boil in anger, anger towards James. But he took a deep breath and controlled his anger for the sake of his friend.

Neal's eyes were closed but Peter knew that his friend was faking sleep once again. These two weeks his friend had feigned sleep more than he had actually approached near Neal and took a seat on the chair. He spoke to his friend,

" Hey Neal.." He paused waiting for his friend's reaction but Neal remained silent. Peter sighed. This was going to be tougher than Peter thought. He tried again.

" Neal , I know you are awake. Please open your eyes. See I got us the best coffee. Come on, I know you hate the food here. This ought to cheer you up. Come on kid."

Neal still remained in the same position and didn't answer Peter. Anger was creeping inside Peter. Why the hell was Neal ignoring him. If he was blaming Peter for not being able to rescue him sooner, then it was okay with Peter, he himself blamed for that. He was ready to apologise but Neal was just not giving him the chance.

And if that wasn't the reason that his friend was giving him the cold shoulder. Then what was it? El had told him that Neal thought that he was worthless and Peter definitely hadn't agreed to that. He wanted to clear these doubts from his friend's mind. If only Neal gave him the chance, only one chance.

"Neal.. I know you are faking it. I know that you are awake. You are a conman, you can easily con people but you know you can never con me." Frustration was clear in Peter's voice.

Neal's eyes finally opened and raw anger was blazing in them. He turned to Peter who cringed and said coldly,

" I very well know that I am a conman Peter! You don't have to remind me! You knew well too before accepting my offer to become your CI."

Peter quickly placed the two cups of coffee on the side table and got up. He was loosing his temper quickly too.

" What the hell is wrong with you, kid? Why are you doing this? "

Neal's voice remained cold when he answered, " I am not doing anything. All I want to do is have some rest. You can go now."

"I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me kiddo! Do you really think I don't know what you are doing? You've been ignoring me since you woke up. I won't let you do it anymore. You understand." Peter gritted his teeth.

"I have nothing to talk about. I am sorry I can't really help you. Just please leave, I'm getting tired now, I want to sleep."

"Dammit Neal! I'm not going to leave you until we have this talk!" Peter growled.

The machine started beeping. Neal was getting tensed by each passing second. He didn't want to talk to Peter. Not now. He knew what Peter was going to tell him. He knew it. His dad had already told him. Even Keller had told him. Peter had finally realised that he wasn't worth it. He was going to tell him how because of Neal his life was a mess. No, he wasn't ready to hear all this.

"I don't want to talk, alright Peter!" He shouted and the machines attached to him were beeping more intensely.

A nurse came rushing into the room. "What is happening here? Sir, you need to leave now!" The nurse ordered Peter and approached Neal.

Peter's anger suddenly dissipated. He rushed to the bed and gripped Neal's arm gently but firmly.

"Neal .. Hey buddy.. Relax ..relax!" Peter was very worried about his friend. If he didn't want to talk he won't. He will wait until Neal was ready.

Neal's breathing had picked up. He removed Peter's hand from his arm. " Peter, just leave. I know you think that I am at flight risk. But believe me, if you can that is, I won't go anywhere. I will stay here as long as the hospital needs me here." He gasped out.

The nurse spoke directly to Peter, " His blood pressure is decreasing. Sir.. Please leave the room or I will have to force you to."

Peter nodded, " Okay! Okay kid! You just relax! We will talk later. I will go and grab a coffee or something alright." Peter didn't for a second agree to what Neal had just said. He never had thought that Neal would run. He was here purely because he was worried. He was here because he just wanted to make sure that his friend, his son was okay.

Peter turned to look at the nurse and spoke, " I will go down the cafe and grab something. Have you seen my wife? She was here."

The nurse nodded, " Yes, she's down at the cafe, you can meet her there. "

Peter nodded and turned to Neal again who laid his back against the pillow and closed his eyes.

"Neal ..you rest alright.. I will be back." Peter spoke softly to Neal but the latter didn't acknowledge his friend in any manner. Peter left the room feeling utterly defeated.

 **...**

Neal opened his eyes as soon as he was sure that Peter had gone. He turned to the nurse and spoke,

" Hey Simran, my wounds are hurting too much today so I would like you to increase my meds, please. "

Simran frowned, " Neal, I am sure that you are healing well. Do you really need a high dose?"

Neal closed his eyes, " Yes please Simran. The pain is just too much today."

Simran gave in to Neal and administered a high dose of his meds through his IV. She then adjusted the bed so Neal was once again lying straight on his back.

"Just rest Neal. The meds carry sedative, it will help you sleep."

Neal nodded and spoke, " Simran?"

"Yes Neal?"

"I really don't want to be disturbed today. I'm.. The pain is too much.. I don't want to see any visitors today. "

Simran nodded, " Okay.. I will tell the receptionist to cancel any visits you have today."

Simran once adjusted the IV and checked Neal's blood pressure and after she was satisfied she turned to take her leave but Neal's voice stopped her,

" I also don't want anyone spending their night in this room. I don't want to be disturbed."

"Not even Agent Burke?" Simran asked confused.

"Yeah, not even Agent Burke."

Simran sighed. Since the two weeks that she had been attending her patient, she had seen the way the Burkes were worried about Neal. The way they cared about him. It was clear even to the blind that they were behaving as if they were Neal's real parents. But her patient had other thoughts.

"You know that he loves you right? "

Neal remained silent so she then added, " take rest Neal." Simran then left. The tears that were at bay fell from Neal's eyes. He hated the way he was treating Peter but the memories of his ordeal was making it difficult for him. Whenever he saw Peter, he was always hit by the memory that his friend had remained standing when Keller had tortured him and he was always compelled to believe in what his Dad had said, that he wasn't worth it. With these thoughts swirling in his mind he slowly succumbed to drug induced sleep.

 **...**

 **One more chapter to go :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**The wonderful experience of writing a fic for the first time ends today. I thank my sister for giving me that push. I would like to thank all you guys but any combination of 26 alphabets can never explain how much I am grateful to you all for reading,reviewing , favouriting and following this story :-)**

 **It really is sad feeling that this journey has ended but hey, you never know.. We might be seeing each other very soon, that is of course if you want to see me again ;-)**

 **...**

Peter found El sitting on one of the chairs sipping her drink in the cafe. He came up to her and El immediately got up and embraced her husband.

"Hey, hon! I was just finishing up my coffee. I left Neal with the nurse as she had come in to clean him up. "

Peter nodded and held his wife a little more tightly. El immediately sensed that something was wrong. She looked up to meet Peter's eyes and saw they were filled with sorrow. She gasped softly and asked ,

"Honey, what's wrong? And please don't tell me nothing, alright. "

Peter knew he could never keep anything from El. He took a deep breath and spoke,

"I screwed up El. I screwed up bad. "

"What do you mean? What happened?"

Peter broke away from El and they both sat down on the plastic chairs facing each other. Peter raked a hand through his hair and spoke,

"I just met Neal and tried to talk to him. Even brought the best coffee.(Though now its probably resting in a trash). But he wasn't talking and then things escalated and his heart monitor started beeping and his blood pressure was getting lower and .." Peter kept rambling but El stopped him.

"Honey..wait, wait. You are telling me that you and Neal had a fight?"

"Well, not exactly a fight but let's just say that things aren't great between us."

"Oh Hon! What are you going to do now." El asked worried.

"I'm going back upstairs again, and this time I won't loose my temper and that kid will have no other choice but to talk to me." El nodded.

El urged her husband to have at least some coffee. Peter wasn't in the mood for anything but to talk to his friend. But one look from El and he couldn't deny that coffee. They finished their respective cups and then Peter got up with El following him and they hugged each other again and then Peter left to see Neal

 **...**

Peter reached Neal's room and was about to enter when he was stopped by the nurse Simran.

"I am sorry Sir.."

Peter raised his hand and interrupted her, " Simran, we know each other for two weeks now, you can call me Peter you know."

Simran nodded smiling and spoke again, " I'm sorry Peter but you cannot go in."

Peter was confused, " What? Why? I thought Neal's wounds were dressed already and he was cleaned too.."

Simran shook her head, " No actually Peter, Neal has requested that he doesn't want any visitors today." Peter looked shocked. " He was complaining that his injuries were paining too much, so I administered high dose of pain killer. He should be asleep by now. "

"Okay, no problem, I will wait here and then when he wakes up, will go inside. "

Simran hesitated knowing what she was going to say next was going to hurt Peter,

" Um..actually, Neal doesn't want anybody inside today. You cannot be there at night too."

"What? You kidding right?" Peter asked not at all believing the nurse.

"I am sorry Peter, but Neal's made it clear that he doesn't want to see anybody today."

Peter looked at the nurse disbelief, " I am going inside and no one can stop me." He turned the knob of the door to enter but Simran stopped him.

"Please Peter, don't do this. Please leave or I will have to call in the security."

Peter looked at the nurse and then his hand left the knob and he sat down heavily on the chair and put his head down between his hands. He couldn't believe that Neal was doing this. Why can't just the kid let him in.

Simran placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly, " You can sit here if you want Peter." Peter didn't change his position and simply nodded.

 **...**

As soon as dawn broke, Peter got out from his chair and went inside Neal's room. He had stayed awake the entire night. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Neal had denied him from seeing him. But that wasn't going to stop Peter. Technically Neal had forbidden anyone from seeing him only for one day so morning meant new day.

He crept into the room and closed the door behind him. He padded softly towards Neal who was sleeping soundly thanks to the sedative. He came and stood near Neal and caressed his hair affectionately. Neal looked so much at peace. So innocent. God! He loved this kid so much.

"Neal .. I don't know what's gotten into you, kid. But I have decided I will wait. I will wait until you are ready to talk. I know you are hurting and I don't want to aggravate your pain any further. " Peter paused looking at the sleeping form of his friend.

"Just remember that I'm here buddy. Always here." He then squeezed Neal's hand gently and turned to leave the room before his emotions took over him completely but faltered when he saw Simran standing there at the door. Both stared at each other and didn't say anything and Peter hurriedly left.

 **...**

Next day when Neal woke up it was already afternoon. He was feeling much better than yesterday. Maybe the painkillers had done the trick. He was still very sore but he could manage. Simran had dressed his wounds and cleaned him too. Since he was feeling better today, he was getting bored to death.

He recalled yesterday's talk with Peter and was instantly hit by guilt. He hadn't meant to be so rude to his friend but he just couldn't get over the pain. But now sitting alone in the room, Neal felt very lonely. He had refrained Peter from seeing him yesterday but he didn't think that Peter wouldn't show up today. Even El hadn't come to see him yet. He got angry at himself as this was entirely his fault. If only he hadn't been so rude.

The door suddenly opened and Dr. Collin came in. He smiled at the grumpy looking man in front of him. Definitely his patient was feeling well today. As soon as Neal saw him, he spoke,

" Morning Dr. Collin.. When am I going to be discharged?"

Dr. Collin chuckled, " Whoa! Somebody is ready to leave the hospital early. " He came forward and started checking Neal's vitals.

After thorough examination Dr. Collin spoke, " Well..you are healing very well Neal. I can say that you will be discharged by the end of this week."

"Oh!" That was all Neal could say and he lowered his eyes. He really wanted to get the hell out of the hospital. Being confined to one room 24 / 7 was not doing good to his mind. He just wanted to leave and go home.

Dr. Collin noticed his melancholy mood and spoke, "There are a couple of visitors that are eager to meet you Neal. That is of course if you are willing to meet them."

Neal's eyes shot up to meet the doctor's and asked, " who wants to meet me?" Surely if the visitors were Peter and El, then they would never need permission. But then he remembered his behaviour yesterday, and felt guilty once more.

Dr. Collin replied, " Well.. If you are willing to meet them, then you can see them yourself."

Neal nodded and the doctor left telling him that he was sending his visitors in.

 **...**

Neal immediately tensed when he saw Leonard Miller walk into the room along with his son, Joseph Miller. Joe noticed the tension in Neal's body so he quickly covered the distance between them and spoke to Neal,

" Hey Neal.. "

Neal whose eyes were fixed on Len jumped when Joe called out his name. He didn't even notice that Joe was now standing near him. He diverted his eyes from Len with much difficulty and answered to Joe,

"Hey.."

"You look good." Joe grinned.

"Yeah.. Yeah..thanks to you. If you hadn't escaped then I don't think I would have been here."

"And I escaped because of you, Neal. I am sorry I didn't bring help sooner. " Joe's smile dropped.

"No, you did good. I have no complaints. "

"Thank you so much Neal." Neal was startled to hear Len's voice. He hated that voice. It brought back all the horrific memories but still Neal managed to turn to the voice and reply,

"You really don't have to thank me Len. Joe did an amazing job escaping."

"And it was all because of you Neal. Joe told me how you helped him escape. "

Neal remained silent. He didn't know what to say. Seeing Len's face was a lot harder than he thought. He desperately wished for Peter to be here but his friend was not here today. He did his best to not panic in front of Len.

"I really wanted to apologise to you Neal. You know now that I was helpless. Joe's life was in danger. What I did was not correct but I couldn't let anything happen to him."

Neal nodded, " I absolutely understand Len. What you did. I don't blame you anymore. You did what every father would do, should do to save his child. " He turned to Joe and spoke, " You are very lucky Joe, to have a father like him. Not all are as lucky as you." He lowered his eyes but both Joe and his father could see how much pain was etched on Neal's face.

" I am sure that you are not talking about yourself now , are you kid? Because I have seen what lengths can your dad go to protect you." Len asked.

Neal looked up to see Len as if he was from another planet. " I am talking about me, Len! Haven't you been told what my dad did?"

"Yeah.. Well.. James wasn't exactly father of the year. That SOB doesn't even deserve to be your father but I wasn't talking about him, Neal."

Neal's face screwed up in confusion. If Len was not talking about James then who? "Who are you talking about then?"

Len sighed, "I am talking about Peter of course."

Neal's face immediately turned red with anger. " Please Len, don't talk about things which are not even remotely true. I am a criminal, a conman and Peter is an FBI agent. He wouldn't even think for a second that I am like his son."

Joe spoke before his father could, " You are wrong Neal. Agent Burke definitely doesn't think that you are a criminal. He cares about you."

Neal asked coldly, " Does he?"

"Of course, kid! Look I don't know why you are doubting Peter but I have seen him Neal. The days when you were kidnapped, they were like pure hell to him. He was constantly worried about you. "

"Yeah he was worried, but not because he cares, it was because I am his CI. If anything happened to me , his paperwork would increase." Neal said not believing in Len's words.

Len rubbed his hand across his face. This kid was so stubborn. " Neal, I don't know what happened but trust me, Peter cares about you. I have seen that look in his eyes. He was worried in exactly the same way I was worried about Joe. " Neal didn't answer.

"I know something is bothering you and that it has to do with Peter and your rescue. But son, if you don't give him a chance to explain, how will your differences be solved?"

"Yes Neal, talk to Agent Burke. I am sure all your doubts will be cleared. Please just give him a chance, alright." Joe said.

Neal nodded. He still didn't believe in either of them but he felt like he should at least give his friend one chance. One chance wouldn't hurt, right? Joe then leaned forward and hugged Neal.

"Thanks Neal.. Take care okay." Neal nodded again. Both parted and then Len spoke,

"Thank you again Neal. You really are a good kid. Even though I was bad to you, you helped my son."

Neal just shrugged his shoulders and winced when the pain in his right shoulder shooted up. " I didn't do anything that I wasn't supposed to do."

An FBI agent came in and said, " Mr. Miller, your time is up. "

Len nodded and looked at Neal and spoke, " Goodbye Neal.. Talk to Peter okay.."

Neal only nodded. He knew what Len did was to protect his son and Neal had forgiven him for that but he couldn't forget what he had gone through so he remained quiet when FBI agent came to take him in.

 **...**

Neal was very disappointed. Peter hadn't showed up the whole day. Neal's mind was starting to tell him that he deserved this. His dad had also said the same thing. Peter would never waste his time on him. He then started to get angry. Angry towards whom he didn't know. But he decided that if Peter didn't care then he wouldn't too.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of Simran.

"Hey Neal" Neal smiled at her automatically.

"How are you feeling today? " Simran went about her regular routine.

"I'm good. " Neal sighed. He was far from good.

"Missing someone's company today right?" Simran asked. Neal frowned at her but otherwise didn't answer.

"You know Peter's worried about you. If only you talked to him, things will be better." Neal still didn't reply to her.

" You know yesterday even though you denied him, Peter still came in this room to look at you , to talk to you." Neal gaped at the nurse. His heart filled with warmth at the words of the nurse. His friend had never left him. He decided that he should at least talk to his friend.

"Um.. Um..if you could just call him and ask him if he could meet me?" Neal asked hesitantly.

Simran smiled, " I won't have to call him, Neal.. He's right here in the hospital."

Neal was again surprised, " Really?"

"Yeah.. It's just that he didn't want to cause anymore trouble to you so he's here but in the waiting room. So that way he can still be close in case you need him. "

"Oh!" Neal was again awash with guilt. He shouldn't have been so rude to Peter. "Um.. Can ..can you please tell him that I want to see him?"

Simran smiled, " Of course Neal."

 **...**

Neal's eyes were glued to the door. He was fidgeting nervously. The days or rather the weeks that he had spent in the hospital, Peter had shown nothing but compassion and Neal in return had avoided him. Neal knew deep down that what he did was wrong but that one damn memory was nagging at the back of his mind. What if what his father had said was true? But then Peter's behaviour had contradicted every single word of his dad's. Was it possible that he had taken it all wrong?

"Neal.. Hey... You ok?"

Neal was brought back to reality by Peter's concerned voice. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Peter come through the door and stand by his side and was now calling him.

"Neal..Hey.. You ok? "

Neal blinked a couple of times to clear his mind. He looked at Peter who was watching him intently with worried expression.

"Yeah.. Yeah.. I'm fine Peter."

Peter relaxed and stood there. There was an awkward silence between them. Finally Neal broke the silence.

"I am sorry Peter. " Neal said softly.

Peter was confused at this. He asked, "What for?"

Neal sighed, " No matter what, I really didn't have to be rude to you. "

Peter relaxed, "Neal you have nothing to be sorry for." Neal just stared at his friend. Again awkward silence was stretched between them.

Neal again spoke breaking the silence, " You want to sit down?" Peter nodded and was about to sit in the chair but then Neal scooted a little to make space for Peter indicating him to sit beside him.

Peter was pleasantly surprised at the gesture and willingly obliged and sat at the edge of the bed. He spoke,

"How are you feeling today, Neal?" Neal nodded as he answered, " Feeling better Peter."

" Good." Peter said and spoke again after a short pause, " You know you will have to give your statement later but if you want to talk about it now, I am ready to hear." He just wanted Neal to open up and talk so that their differences could be solved.

Neal felt his throat go dry and his heart started beating faster. The machine started beeping. Peter began to worry about his friend and placed his hand over his friend's hand and squeezed it gently and spoke immediately,

" Neal..son, relax.. I am here ..you are now safe.. I won't let anyone hurt you anymore." Peter said it with such determination that Neal felt his nerves settle down. "You want to talk, Neal?" Peter asked again after a few seconds.

Neal remained silent for a long time and Peter was saddened by this because he thought his friend wouldn't share his pain with him but then Neal started speaking softly.

Neal began telling Peter how everything had started with Peter listening to him intently. Peter was getting angry with each word uttered by Neal. Angry with Len and Raees. But outwardly he remained calm for the sake of his friend. But when Neal started telling about the conversation between him and his dad, Peter lost it and suddenly got up and started pacing back and forth.

Neal was suddenly unsure about this. Peter was angry. Was he angry on him? " Peter?.." He asked hesitantly. Peter didn't answer but continued his pacing so Neal raised his voice and called out, " Peter?" Peter suddenly stopped and turned to look at Neal.

"Yes Neal, keep going , I am listening." Indeed Peter had heard every word that Neal spoke, how his father had emotionally tortured him and now all that Peter could think was why the hell didn't he kill the man when he had the chance.

Neal was still unsure but went on. He then described how his father had asked him about the wealth and then had left him. Peter had started pacing again and Neal was afraid that this constant pacing will put a hole in the floor and Peter would go down right through it. He then shook himself out of those silly thoughts.

Neal then went on to say how Keller had finally made himself known. Neal then shuddered at that memory. He then unconsciously stopped talking. Peter then turned to Neal, understood his fear and came next to him and placed his hand on Neal's shoulder gripping it gently and then spoke, " It's okay Neal, I am here, Keller is where he should be. Alright?"

Neal nodded and then slowly continued describing how Keller had sliced his skin with the knife. How he had plunged that same knife into his thigh and the unbearable pain it had caused. Peter was shocked to hear the horrific details. He just couldn't imagine the pain his friend must have gone through.

Neal stopped again but then asked, " Peter, do you really want to know what he did next? It kinda is ugly. He had stumbled on each word that had come from his mouth.

Peter first just stared hard at Neal. What can be more ugly than what his friend had already told? He then controlled his boiling anger and said,

" Neal .. You are the one who's gone through such horrifying ordeal..the least I can do is hear it and share your pain. " Neal's eyes burned and he closed them and opened them again after a few seconds and nodded,

"Keller then..he..um..placed a plastic sheet ..over my face and..and" Peter was mortified at the words of Neal. Neal closed his eyes again. That memory was swimming in front of him. He could feel the plastic sheet on his face at that very moment. He was starting to feel suffocated. But he knew he had to let it out, only then he can get over that dreadful experience.

"He and Raees then.. He then poured cold water over the sheet and then I couldn't breathe Peter, and they kept pouring , I just couldn't breathe and he repeated it again and then I couldn't take it anymore.. And I.. I begged him to kill me just like he had asked me to so that I would be free of the pain and then you know the rest." Neal finished in a whisper.

Peter was stunned at this revelation that Neal had actually asked Keller to kill him. 'Oh dear God!' He thought. What if he was late? What would have happened? Would he have had to see Neal's dead body? And that too because it was Neal who had given up and Peter was again hit by the guilt. Neal had given up because he didn't trust Peter to come and save him anymore.

And then even before Neal could process what was happening, he was engulfed by Peter in a warm hug. Peter was mindful of his injuries.

"I'm so sorry, kid! I'm so sorry.. Only if I could have come sooner, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much. But please Neal never , never give up on me, trust me, I will find you always. You don't know Neal but you mean so much to me, you are like the son I never had. I love you son. Please don't ever give in to death so easy." Peter was so overwhelmed by the fact that he could have lost Neal that he didn't even realise that he had just confessed to Neal that to him , Neal was his son.

Neal at first didn't know how to react. He was too stunned to react. Out of all the things, he wasn't expecting Peter to hug him and confess that he was sorry and that he considered him as his son. Initially he remained stiff but then Peter's words warmed his heart and then he returned the hug just as fervently but then his mind kept telling him that James was right, that Peter didn't care as that damn memory came back to him.

He broke himself away from Peter and looked into the eyes of his friend. He saw nothing but love, care and compassion. He smiled at his friend and spoke,

"I can't guarantee you that Peter, you know I am a trouble magnet. I cannot stay away from trouble for long so .. Yeah.. But I assure you that I will not stop waiting for you." Peter nodded and relaxed, Neal telling him that he still was willing to trust him was more than he could ask for.

He smiled at Neal and while Neal returned it, Peter knew his friend very well. Though Neal seemed relaxed but Peter knew that something was still bothering him. He asked his friend in a very concerned tone,

"What is it Neal? I know there's something that you haven't talked about. What is it? "

Neal averted his eyes from Peter and didn't say anything. Peter sighed and tried again, "What is it son?"

Neal's eyes locked into Peter to search for any duplicity but he didn't find any. He whispered so softly that Peter had to strain his ears. " You .. You love me like your son?"

Peter instantly turned red finally realising that he had indeed told Neal that. But then he also realised that he didn't regret it even for a second. So he answered Neal, " Yes..yes.. " he smiled, " yes Neal I love you son."

Neal nodded and asked in a voice filled with so much anguish that it pained Peter too. " Why didn't you save me from Keller then in the warehouse?" Neal's question was so innocent that it tugged at Peter's heart.

"I was helpless kid! Keller had you at the point of the knife and I just couldn't do anything! Don't you remember?"

Neal's face screwed up in confusion, " Actually Peter, my mind is little fuzzy when it comes to remembering the events that happened after you came. "

"God! Neal, Keller had held you with a knife pointing at your neck. If I had done anything to help you, he would have killed you instantly. I tried to convince him to leave you in all the ways that I could think of but he didn't budge."

Neal closed his eyes, trying to remember that day, he could now vaguely remember Peter pleading Keller to let Neal go. " So.. So.. You didn't do anything to save me because of that...And not because I am worthless?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course not Neal! You are not worthless! Don't you ever forget !" Peter admonished him gently. He was then suddenly wrapped in a tight hug, well, as tight as Neal could give him, keeping in mind his injuries. Neal's eyes watered,

" I am so sorry Peter! All these days I was taking it all wrong, I am so sorry!"

Peter then asked in confusion, " Is that why you had said sorry to me at the warehouse?" Peter had suddenly remembered that Neal after taking the bullet had told him that he was sorry just before loosing consciousness.

Neal shook his head in negative and spoke still hugging Peter tightly, " I thought.. I thought that I was a waste of your time." Peter understood why Neal had thought that and once again lamented on not killing James when he had the chance.

Peter placed his hand at the back of Neal's head and spoke gently, " You are not worthless kiddo! James doesn't know what he has lost. And I thank God, that he gave me the son I always dreamed of." Neal just nodded. He felt extremely relieved. He felt light. He let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes.

Peter then called out, " Neal you better rest now. You must be tired." Neal never answered, he was already asleep with his head on Peter's shoulder. Peter turned his head slightly and smiled softly at the sleeping kid. He gently laid Neal back on the bed and got up and covered Neal with the sheet.

"Sweet dreams son! "

 **...**

Another week had quickly gone by and Neal was now dressed in a track pants and bottle green t-shirt and ready to leave the hospital finally. He was sitting on the bed wishing Peter would just hurry up with the paper work so they could just leave. He then smiled his dazzling smile when he saw Peter finally enter the room along with a nurse and a wheelchair.

Peter chuckled, " Aren't you happy!" Neal simply widened his smile. Peter laughed and said, "Alright, kid, let's go. "

Neal caught the cane that was lying beside his bed and limped towards the chair and sat down, " Finally Peter! I can go home! You don't know how long I have been waiting for this moment."

"Trust me kid, I know! " Peter smiled and turned to Simran and said to her that he would wheel Neal out.

Simran nodded and came around the wheelchair and planted a kiss on Neal's cheek and spoke, " I will miss you Neal but definitely wouldn't want to see you here. Maybe somewhere else?"

Neal smiled his charming smile and replied, " Most certainly, Simran. I will give you a call." Peter just rolled his eyes at the conversation. Leave it to Neal to charm people even in this state. Simran then smiled and left.

Peter then turned to Neal once again and spoke, " Before we leave Neal.. " he paused, but then Neal spoke before he could,

"You have to put back my anklet, right?" Peter nodded, " Yes."

"It's okay, Peter. Actually I want it back. That way you can always watch on me." Neal smiled.

Peter was relieved, he had thought that Neal wouldn't be happy about the anklet but he was wrong. He quickly placed the anklet back on Neal's leg and wheeled him out of the hospital.

 **...**

Neal was surprised when Peter instead of taking him to June's had driven to his house. He asked after getting out of the car with the help of Peter, " Peter.. Why are we here?"

Peter smiled, " I brought you home." Neal nodded, and feeling of warmth spread in his entire body. He then let Peter lead him into the Burke house.

When he entered the house, Neal was surprised was the least to say. Everybody was present there. El was smiling affectionately. June was seated on the couch and was smiling warmly too. Jones and Diana were there too.

But the one person who surprised him the most was his eccentric friend Mozzie who came up to him and spoke with a rare affection , " Mon frere.. Good to see you." Neal replied, " You too Moz!" Neal's eyes watered at the sight of everybody who were there for him but he quickly blinked away the tears.

El was first to wrap him in a hug, " Welcome home sweetie. " Neal smiled and nodded. El then led him to the couch and he was grateful for that as his body had started to ache. He got settled on the couch and laid his head back and closed his eyes. June came and sat beside him and spoke, " How are you feeling Neal?"

Neal opened his and sat straight and answered, " I am fine June. Thank you so much for coming. It means a lot." He smiled at her gratefully.

June smiled, " It means a lot more to me Neal." Neal nodded. June then patted Neal's thigh and spoke, " You get better and I will have your room ready just as you like it." Neal smiled at his landlady. He couldn't understand how he got this lucky to have these many people love him.

They were interrupted by Jones and Diana who came and stood in front of him.

"Seriously Caffrey, never thought I would say this but it's so good to see you." Diana spoke smiling.

Neal smiled too, " Aww, so now you are not going to kill me?"

Diana shook her head, " Caffrey, never count on that! "

Jones laughed as Neal pouted, " Come on Neal, you know she respects you!" Neal nodded and spoke, " Thank you!" Jones nodded, " It really is good to see you Caffrey." Neal smiled feeling utterly relaxed.

 **...**

Everybody enjoyed the delicious lunch that El had prepared and had chatted amicably and had left as they could see how tired Neal was getting. Mozzie had promised to come back to visit his friend. Neal was on the couch again next to Peter and El was seated in the chair.

Neal spoke, " Did you capture my..my.. James?" He didn't want to call James his dad.

Peter answered, " Yes Neal, we caught him." Peter didn't tell Neal about James visit to the hospital. He didn't want to cause any pain to the kid.

Neal nodded and then asked hesitantly, " Um.. Um.. The money .. " Peter saved him and said, " The guy never showed up Neal. Your money is still safe."

"Oh!.. Don't you want to know?" Neal asked.

Peter shook his head, " No Neal. I don't want to know what's in the past. But yes I hope you don't do anything wrong in the present." Neal gulped , " I will try Peter. "

Peter only nodded. El got up and spoke, " Neal, I have prepared your favourite dessert. I will go and get it."

Both Neal and Peter sat in comfortable silence. Peter then out of habit switched on the TV after grabbing the remote and settled on a sports channel. To his surprise Neal didn't object but only smiled.

El returned with the dessert after a few minutes and smiled softly. Peter looked up from the TV to see his wife smiling raised his eyebrow in question and El only gestured with her eyes towards Neal.

Peter started to turn and that's when he realised that Neal had fallen asleep on his shoulder yet again. He was so engrossed in the TV that he hadn't noticed Neal's weight on his shoulder. He smiled at Neal and then turned his eyes on El and spoke, " He must have been more tired than we thought . " El nodded. Peter then gently manoeuvred Neal so that his head was resting in Peter's lap. Peter then gently ran his hand through Neal's hair to keep him sleeping.

El's eyes watered at the scene and came forward and kissed Neal's forehead and then covered him with a soft blanket. Both Peter and El spoke simultaneously, " I love you son!"

 **...**

Moonlight was shining in the otherwise dark living room. It was late evening. Neal opened his eyes and groaned softly. His body was still paining. His eyes roamed around and he was confused as to where he was. A few seconds passed and then finally realised that his head was lying on Peter's lap. He looked at Peter who was snoring softly and then his eyes searched for El. He found her curled up in the chair at his foot. She was sleeping too.

His heart fluttered with immense happiness and his eyes watered. Peter and El could have easily left him on the couch and went to their room but they were here for him. All his life he had longed for a happy ending but deep down he knew that he never deserved one.

His father and mother were never there. His father had said that he was worthless but the couple in this room had shown what he was to them. He wasn't worthless. He wished James was here to witness this moment. All life he had longed for a family but he had never imagined that one day he would get it. Peter and El though were not blood but they were the real family that he had always craved for.

His eyes again went to Peter and then to El and he whispered softly, " Love you Dad .. Love you Mom.." He thought it would feel awkward to confess that but strangely it felt normal. He then closed his eyes and gave in to the pleasant sleep that was calling him with a contented sigh.

 **...**

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